Producer: Black Knight Software
Retail Price: £2.99
Author: Quantum Productions

An interesting approach to budget software, this one - it's a compilation of three games: Protector, Syrinx II and Moonraker.

Protector is a Defender-style shoot em up which re-employs many features familiar to Defender fans, including a scanner, smart bombs and dematerialising capability. The aliens swoop down from the skies trying to pick up energy cells. Once captured, the cell is carried by the alien to the top of the screen where it regenerates the meanie into a higher life form that suddenly develops a powerful urge to locate your exact position and blast you out of the skies.

The green doobries pounce down on the harmless energy cells and drag them kicking and screaming into orbit to produce the more sophisticated red droids. The yellow blocks lay mines which cause dreadful problems later on unless they're well and truly blasted. Maximum points are scored for killing the magenta aliens. If these are hit they explode, releasing lots of smaller aliens. Cyan oblongs locate the shuttle with pin point accuracy and one touch spells destruction.

The second game, Syrinx II, is full of dangers. Before you can extricate yourself from an unpleasant situation, fifteen keys have to be found. These are scattered around the maze-like tomb of Syrinx and take a bit of hunting out. The place is filled with lots of horrible monsters who guard the keys, and make life difficult.

You start your mission with 99% energy. Colliding with monsters loses energy. You have, however, been provided with a nifty laser, although indiscriminate use is unwise since it also uses up energy, and the game ends when energy is at zero. Collecting a key replenishes energy.

The last game in the trio comes complete with a separate program of instructions... A survey indicates that a moon at the edge of the galaxy contains rich mineral deposits. Rival mining corporations despatch teams of mining and fighting equipment to plunder this mysterious and wealthy place.

When the rival corporations arrive on the moon, the mystery deepens. For the moon is inhabited by machines and not humans. A desperate battle begins between the rival groups and the natives of the moon.

The two-player game is played on a grid with each player controlling one of the rival mining corporations. Mines must be captured and the rival corporation prevented from capturing other mines by blowing up opponents' Moonraker shuttles or taking over mines already used by the locals. And the robotic natives are understandably miffed at having to share their lucrative moon with a bunch of power crazed mining corporations.

Three different games, each with a different style of play and action, all rolled into one budget package - bit like the old days, really....

COMMENTS

Control keys: vary from game to game
Joystick: Kempston, Cursor,
Interface 2
Keyboard play: fairly responsive
Use of colour attractive
Graphics: good on the first game and acceptable on the other two
Sound: spot effects on all games
Skill levels: 26 on the first game: one for each of the others
Screens: scrolling on Protector

This tape certainly offers great value for money; two playable arcade games and a strategy game for a quid each. None of the games are excellent, but they are all good fun for a couple of hours or so. The graphics on the whole are about average. The first game is a very playable Defender clone with small and undetailed characters, but they scroll nicely all the same; nice spot effects too. The second is a fairly unoriginal 'fetch the keys' arcade adventure that plays quite slowly. The screen scrolls in quarters so it can be quite hard on the eyes. Characters are small and they move about badly. The third doesn't really appeal to me, as it is very complicated. On the whole I recommend this package as it will probably entertain you for as long as an expensive game, without costing so much.

Protector, though looking like a game from the dawn of Spectrum time, is amazingly addictive, but I suppose that the credit for that ought really to go to the original authors of Defender. That said, Protector is a fair, it not brilliant clone. Syrinx II isn't particularly stunning, but the last. Moonraker, though not graphically anything new or eye opening, has certainly a great deal of scope for play, especially for non-arcade freaks. Overall, for the price, Knight Games II represents quite good value for money, but if you buy expecting to get three supremely well programmed, professional, polished games, you're going to be disappointed.

Three games for two pounds - can't be that bad, I thought. Protector is a not very accurate translation of the arcade game, but plays superbly and extremely fast on the higher levels. This game alone is worth the asking price. Unfortunately it's let down by a couple of games that are much below the standard. Syrinx II is a very boring arcade adventure aggravated by quarter screen scrolling. Moonraker is a very complicated and time consuming affair consisting of very small, unimaginative characters. It may be three for the price of one - but to my mind, only one of the games is worth it.