Producer: Abacus, 16K
£5.95
Author: Andrew Blackburn

As its name suggests, this is a Panic style dig-dug game, where you roam the platforms with your pick-axe, digging holes for the monsters to fall in. When they do, you dash up and bonk them on the head, killing them. If you fail to reach them in time they get out. Ladders connect the various levels and as well as going up you can jump the monsters. Our reviewers thought it was too simple a version to interest experts, especially as the 5 screens provide little increase in difficulty and there are only three monsters to contend with, but it is attractively animated and probably very good for younger players. Coming from Ababcus, its simplicity is surprising as their games are usually fiendishly hard to play. Cursor keys, joystick: AGF or Protek, average sound, but good value with a free game on the reverse. CRASH rating 62% M/C.

HEADBANGERS - PANIC GAMES

Armed with little more than a trusty spade, nimble fingers and wilting joystick, our two arcade playing reviewers, CHRIS PASSEY and MATTHEW UFFINDELL, enter the dusty platforms in search of monsters 'Panic' games involve climbing ladders to various levels within the screen, digging holes in the floors and letting the monsters fall into them. When you trap a monster in this manner, there is usually a short time in which to reach it, bang it on the head so that it falls through to its death, filling in the hole as it goes. Failure to kill it in time will result in the beast escaping and becoming a super monster. The more super a monster becomes, the more holes it must fall through in one go, which means digging holes in a vertical line. You have an ever-diminishing supply of oxygen, so speed is important. This selection contains some close copies and some slight variations on the theme.

SUPER DIGGER
Abacus
Memory Required: 16K
Retail Price: £5.95

This is the only game here that is written in BASIC. The key layout is poor (cursors). Digging is achieved by using the down key and the up key is used for jumping holes and monsters (as well as climbing ladders). You die if you fall into one of your own holes. Colour and graphics are limited due to the BASIC language used. Hence movement is jerky and the characters are small. Five 'mazes' and three speeds are provided, but the game is very unplayable and not addictive at all. I liked the jumping idea, which is innovative, and overall I think Abacus may have been able to produce a better game in machine code.
CP

The first thing you notice about this game is the offer of five different mazes and three speeds. Although there is a choice of speeds, the game runs slowly even on the fastest one. Screen layout is almost primitive by todays standards, with uninteresting platforms and no frills. Ladders, monsters and your man are not very detailed, and move by block. Once a hole is dug, you can't fill it in (like Monsters in Hell), but you can jump over it (unlike Monster in Hell). The screen is quite a bore because nothing much happens. Not a very good game at all and cursor key layout makes things worse.
MU