Di-Lithium Lift

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 3/10

Memory: 16K Price: £5.95 Joystick: Kempston Even with the memory limitations of the 16K Spectrum, Di-lithium Lift is a slim offering. The aliens are guarding a vault of Di-lithium crystals, and in this distant relative of Pac-man you have to zig-zag about the screen, picking up crystals while avoiding the lasers of two droids. The action may be fast but the display employs user-defined graphics rather than true high-resolution programming. The use of sound is rudimentary as well, with standard bleeps and simple scales; even Spectrum owners should expect something more sophisticated than that. It is possible that Hewson is aiming the game at what is considered to be a younger market. If so, that might excuse the simple concept but not the lack-lustre presentation. Di-lithium Lift might have been acceptable two years ago and with some advanced graphics programming it might make the grade today. As it is, it is a disappointment.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Big K

Overall 1/3

Richard Cook 1/3

GRIDSTROLLER BLUES MAKER: Hewson Consultants MACHINE: Spectrum FORMAT: cassette PRICE: £7.95 Sounds very scientific. But, like Ocean's rather more playable Transversion, this swipes the design idea of Gridrunner and adds different mechanics. Ignoring the low-budget Moorcock-style synopsis that adorns one of Hewson's usual awful packages, your fingers control a small fellow who zips over a variety of patterned grids collecting crystals and (you hope) dodging the droid cannons that guess your next move with alarming accuracy. In fact so astute is the opposition here that it took superhuman efforts to get to even the second screen. Not only are there some weird fluctuations in speed, there's a time limit on each of four brutish and short lives. Bland graphics offer a functional display. The flashing bonus crystals are almost impossible to score off, and the whole game - playable really only with a joystick - is very difficult, offering little incentive to become more expert. Addictive in a pointless way. Piffling sound and a hall of fame are minor extras.

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 4/10

Sound 6/10

Originality 4/10

Lasting Interest 6/10

Overall 5/10

Steve Cooke 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 16/48K CONTROL: Keys, Kemp FROM: Hewson Consultants, £5.95 Rush about a grid clearing dots and avoiding cross-fire from four enemy laser bases on the perimeter. Very fast action in a game written by the man who brought you Grid Patrol from Lothlorien. Di-Lithium Lift is slightly more playable, but if you must shoot something, buy Grid Patrol instead.

Crash

Use of Computer 69%

Graphics 61%

Playability 57%

Getting Started 62%

Addictive Qualities 59%

Value For Money 58%

Overall 61%

Unknown

Unknown

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Producer: Hewson Consultants Memory Required: 16K Retail Price: £5.95 Language: Machine code and BASIC Author: Simon Cobb With an obsession verging almost on the pathological (not to say paranoid), Hewson Consultants are again urging us to our zappers to confront the menace of the egregious Seiddab. Having beaten us down in 3D Space Wars, invaded our planet in 3D Seiddab Attack, they've now gone and stolen our Di-Lithium crystals (and life's hell without a Di-Lithium crystal or two). These vital crystals have been placed in a vault guarded by four droids armed with lasers. You must break into the vault and scramble to get the crystals as the seconds tick by. So much for the scenario. how about the game? The 'vault' is a 20 x 30 grid of small squares, character-sized, in fact. The four droids are tank-shaped objects which are situated on each of the four axes, firing inwards along the squares, so there's one on top, one on the bottom and one on either side. Each moves and fires independently, homing in on the line of squares occupied by your man. The crystals are arranged in various patterns on the squares, the patterns change with each screen, and those containing diagonal patterns obviously make you work harder. Collecting is done quite simply by moving over the crystals. The droids move fast, and it is essential that you should not stay on a line for too long. At the corners, and in the most dangerous places therefore, are red crystals. If these are collected then the time limit is increased for the screen. The time indicator is situated at the bottom of the vault. The program will crash if CAPS and BREAK are pressed at the same time. COMMENTS Control keys: user-definable Joystick: most types via UDK Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: average Graphics: small block characters, but very fast Sound: good Skill levels: 1 Lives: 3 Screens: 7 with increasing difficulty

Grids and bullets - some Di-Lithium needs a lift.