BLOCK BUSTER
ZX Computing Aug/Sep.1985

OK Buster, move them blocks!
Adam Bull wrote this challenging game based on the arcade hit of Hessle.

This game is a version of a popular arcade game where you
must defuse a number of time bombs whilst collecting flags for
bonus points, and trying not to get blown up. Your play area
consists of blocks and unexploded bombs (which look like
skulls and cross-bones). You move your man around using the
cursor keys, and, as he passes over a block, the block disappears.
You will die if you move onto a place where there is no
longer a block, and also if you move onto a skull and cross-
bones. After a random interval, one of the bombs will be
activated and it will start to flash. It must then be defused, simply by
moving onto it, before the time runs out. The time left until the
bomb detonates is shown on the flashing bomb itself. Don't
forget you may only move onto a bomb when it is activated!

Extra points can be gained by moving onto the yellow flag. After a
little while, you will find it getting harder and harder to reach a
bomb because of the lack of blocks. To help you get past this
difficulty, the ROW of blocks which you are on can be shifted
to the left or right using "1" and "2" respectively. It does not
matter if an empty space is shifted underneath you, but an
unactivated bomb will kill you as usual. After level 2, there will be
a row of pink blocks which cannot be shifted. The number of
bombs increases on each level, and the time in which you must
detonate them decreases. A concise set of instructions is
given in the game. You start with three lives. A high score is
kept during the game. The screen is wrap-around, so if you
go off the side or any edge, you will appear on the opposite side.

When typing in the game, capital letters which do not
obviously form words are probably user defined graphic characters
and should be typed in as such. They appear in lines:

60, 110, 160, 200, 1010, 1040, 4030, 4040, 4530, 6050

Important sections of the game are marked with REM statements.

Variables
The main variables used are:
hi	high score
sc	score during game
l	current level
l$	lives left string
a,b	coordinates of your man (aa,bb saves the last coordinates of a,b)
f1,f2	coordinates of flag
b1,b2	coordinates of currently activated bomb
m$()	contains the play area - blocks and bombs
m()	contains the row numbers of the bombs
bo	bomb number on each level
t	time left until current bomb detonates
d	holds the row number of immovable pink blocks
x$	general string for INKEY$, etc.
x,y,z	general purpose variables