Gremlin
£15.99 cass
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

Gremlin, possibly the finest-ever software house to be named after a mythical beastie, have released a pack of its latest hits. It's called Chart Attack. And, if you'll just pay a nominal fee, remove your coats and outer garments, then follow me into this dimly lit tent, you'll most likely see what can only be described as a review of it. (Oh dear, oh dear. Ed)

GHOULS 'N' GHOSTS

Buckle on that trusty sword, take off that obviously twentieth-century wristwatch and hide those incriminating bicycle clips. For it's time to hop into Specydom's most famous underwear as Ghosts 'n' Goblins crashes back into half-life. Slicker, more playable and even tougher than the original, this new spook-'em-up also features a natty arsenal of add-on weapons and the chance of being turned into a duck. Let no man say that weirdness ever stands in the way of true genius.Tragically, however, only the 48K version is included in the Chart Attack compilation, so denying 128Kers a truly dazzling soundtrack, but judged on gameplay alone this is mean, and mightily addictive.
92°

IMPOSSAMOLE

If you're a fan of burrowing creatures in general, or if you are only interested in moles, settle down into a comfy chair and prepare to read with interest (and a little sadness) the sentences that follow. From the talent behind Rick Dangerous comes the pointless updating of Monty Mole. Five big levels of flashily-presented platform action seem to promise a game to pop your TV tube. Unfortunately Impossamole must have been crossing his little furry fingers. It's slow, linear and frankly dull, nowhere near the standard of Rick and hundreds of light-years behind Pete Harrap's original Monty trilogy. Not bad, more of a mistake.
62°

SHADOW OF THE BEAST

An enormous punch-while-you-puzzle platform game that boasts atmospheric graphics and a high degree of playability. It wouldn't be dreadfully incorrect to compare Shadow Of The Beast to a veritable Eiffel Tower amongst small bungalows, or even a large Transit van among those bubble cars you sometimes see. It towers over the gameless Amiga version, you see. Beast overflows with sneakiness, fast action and most of all, fun. A beast buy. (Aarghh! Ed).
86°

SUPERCARS

Supersprint with attitude, this is a hee-uge scrolling race game with chassis armour and car-to-car missiles and the emphasis is on tyre-burning manoeuvres. As you plough on with these, you'll feel the need to rebuild your car from time to time. Gremlin, clever Sheffield-based souls that they are, have considered this, and have given you extra armour, better weapons and even more powerful cars. All you need is the dosh to collect 'em. And you only get that by skilful and unimaginably violent manoeuvres. Yes, you've got to ram opponents and manufacture pile-ups whilst hurtling round a nightmare track of junctions, tunnels and underpasses. Outstandingly playable.
86°

LOTUS ESPRIT TURBO CHALLENGE

This is one of the better tie-ins, because it doesn't continually throw the licence in you face. Both the one and two player modes are dead spiffy. The idea is to watch your half of the horizontally split screen whilst, if another player is racing, he watches his. Get confused between the screens and not only does the car seem to stop responding to your joystick movements, but it seems to be doing everything your human opponent wants it to. And the other car seems to crash, looking like nobody's controlling it at all. Spooky, until you realise your mistake (Actually, if you're that stupid, you deserve to lose! Ed) Anyway, whether pranging the wing mirrors of horribly competent computer drivers or belching fumes over your fuming best friend, Lotus is tremendously enjoyable. The small playing areas combine with the roller-coaster landscape to increase the excitement, as you're often driving blind. My only quibble is that the cars are confusingly identical. First gear. Sorry, rate.
84°

A good spread of genres and four excellent games make Chart Attack top value for money. Put it on your Chrissy list now.

Label: Gremlin
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £14.99 Tape
Reviewer: Big Al Dykes

Well now, what do we have here? A combination of racing sims and shoot 'em ups, and a good one to boot. What's happening to the world these days, eh?

This compilation from Gremlin has the best of both worlds with the inclusion of Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge, Shadow of the beast, Ghouls 'N' Ghosts, Super Cars and Impossamole.

First out on the grid, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge raced up the charts, with its good driver's seat perspective racing action and graphics which set Lotus apart from other racing games. Definitely right up on the starting grid making as much noise as the big boys.

Vertically viewed race action can be seen on Super Cars. It's fast, graphically good and the power-ups and new cars that can be purchased with race winnings make it well worth a look.

Ghouls 'N Ghosts is a ferocious fighting game with lots of monsters and lots of movement as you leap old Arthur across live huge stages - in the hunt for his lady. Ghouls 'N Ghosts is a classic game that everyone should have.

Shadow Of The Beast has excellent graphic presentation and fantasy/adventure storyline. A long game that'll really attract beat 'em up fans.

Impossamole, a 1990 addition to the Monty Mole adventure saga was a reasonable bash marred by some difficult playability and lack of any real excitement, not a very inspiring game.

GARTH:
Nothing in this Chart Attack compilation succeeds in being stunning but I don't think you'll be especially let down by it either. So pick up your sword, shift the car into gear and it's up, up and away!