Wasn't it once said that if you start playing well into side B of the Cascade Cassette 50 tape then you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul? In any case, this game is listed everywhere as "MUNCH", even in the "Cassette 50" instructions. However when actually loaded up, the game displays its own name as "MUNCHER". The ZX filename is of course "MUN". Just goes to show how much erm.. playesting was carried out on this compilation!
Here's the shock revelation though- "MUNCH" is not (repeat not) a Pac-Man rip-off! Instead, you play the part of a mouth (actually a pair of lips), using QZIP keys to guide your way around an open green field. You (the lips) must eat all strawberries whilst avoiding increasing numbers of deadly nightshade berries. The game is not unlike another BASIC speccy title, "Orchard Thief" and actually plays very similar in terms of keyboard response and speed of the game. i.e. it's also very easy in this one to accidentally move one square too far due to the keyboard repeat. The biggest difference is that here, your enemy is the deadly nightshade hazards as opposed to a strict time limit.
There are three player-selectable difficulty levels. Levels 1 and 2 are quite easy. Level 3 is a genuine challenge, but shouldn't prove too difficult to most players after a few attempts. This game has that hallmark gratuitously beeping "GAME or QUIT" intro screen, shared by quite a few other cassette 50 titles. Verdict: For cassette 50 fans only, but it's certainly one of the better ones on the tape.
