Producer: Gremlin Graphics
Retail Price: £7.99

Our hero, Nimrod the Biopton, has been called upon to rescue his fellow Bioptons. Captured by a bunch of unfriendly Cratons, the hapless Bioptons have been taken hostage, and locked them away in the matrix, a network of prison planets.

Despite all the miracles of technology, molecular transfer (ie, 'beam them up, Scotty') hasn't come about yet, so Nimrod is required to toddle off into this potential death-trap all by himself in an attempt to rescue the captives.

The matrix spreads over a vast area of the galaxy, but since its extent is unknown, the first task is to locate matrix planets and then infiltrate them. The Bioptons have been scattered throughout the matrix, so Nimrod is going to be visiting several planets. Locations is achieved by using a display monitor called the Pentavision, which identities matrix planets. The on-screen-sights can be manoeuvred so they centre over a planet, and then Nimrod is transported to its surface.

Once down, the hunt for the hostage is on. The display switches to an unusual isometric view, scrolling horizontally or vertically depending on Nimrod's direction, and if that isn't to be aimless he might be thankful for a map. Fortunately Craton telly isn't all it's cracked up to be, just map programmes for entertainment, but seeing one isn't so easy... Cratons appear to look down on their TVs from a great height. This forces Nimrod to stand on top of the monitor to look at the map. Lucky for him, then, that upward thrust-paks are available to propel him into the air so long as he approaches from the right direction.

Having located the hostage, Nimrod can return to the launch point, fellow Biopton in tow, and escape. The return route through the maze is indicated on a scanner top-right of the screen. Of course, the Cratons don't sit idly by, the matrix is littered with guards who are all on the offensive. Nimrod does have limited firepower at the outset, but the Cratons are a touch careless, and if searches, powerful weapons such as megabolts are to be found lying around.

The matrix planet maze is represented in different shades of one colour, each with their own effect. To succeed the style of floor designs, and their effects, should be remembered, for in addition to the patroling guards, there are mines, energy draining blocks, black ice and lethal disruptors.

Nimrod's mission isn't going to be easy, but he does have 99 eons to do it in; unfortunately, one Biopton eon is equal to only one of our minutes. Ho hum...

COMMENTS

Control keys: definable
Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2
Use of colour: monochromatic playing area
Graphics: fast in space, tidy and unusual 3D on planets
Sound: good general (and spot) FX
Skill levels: one
Screens: space screen and large scrolling surface play area

Take it from me, The Final Matrix is a ruthless game - so if you're not planning to spend quite a while practising then you may as well ignore it. However, and here's the crunch, it's a really addictive and highly exciting game. There's plenty of content, but it's very well presented and so not too daunting to play. Graphically, Matrix is quite odd, but nonetheless pleasing to the eye. The display remains consistently clear, although the way the screen scrolls (not til you reach the very edge of a screen) can be off-putting when a guard suddenly appears from nowhere. It's a neat entertainment that offers quite a bit to experienced games players.
RICKY

As an arcade adventure, The Final Matrix presents some extremely devious puzzles and a whole host of planets to explore. The graphics are strange in that they use an unorthodox, overhead viewpoint rather than the normal 3D perspective; this looks odd, but works unusually well. The backdrops are neat and clearly presented, with a good use of colour, although the scrolling is a bit on the jerky side. Those who persevere will no doubt find a worthwhile challenge in Matrix, but be prepared to spend a lot of time going to and from the title screen: it's tough.
MIKE

I'm sure that this would be much better suited to Gremlin's five quid semi-budget price tag than nearer eight pounds. Having said this, The Final Matrix is a very original and versatile game. My only nag is that it's much too difficult, a first time player would be lucky to survive for more than a few seconds, and after playing for a considerable time I'm still having trouble progressing through the game at all. Generally this is well presented both graphically and sonically - a tune and a title screen wouldn't go amiss though...
BEN

Gremlin Graphics
£8.99

Imagine a sort of cross between Alien 8 and Bobby Bearing, with bits of several other games (notably Gauntlet) tacked on, and you might get some idea of what The Final Matrix is all about.

You control Nimrod, who flies about the galaxy from matrix to matrix. Each one is a sort of mini-prison made up of half a dozen or more screens full of booby traps, alien guards and useful objects (though you'd think the alien guards would have tidied these away by now, wouldn't you?) Somewhere in each matrix is hidden one of your mates, who you have to rescue. Simple, right? As always with this sort of game, wrong.

Graphically, it's barely different to any one of half a dozen other games - semi-3D effect, you look at the layout from the side. Nimrod is a Dusty Bin lookalike, but with a lot more charm and a mean little laser pistol, controlled via keyboard or joystick. The map is built up of square paving stones, with block walls one or two levels higher - fall off the paving stones and you plummet into interstellar space or die. Above the map is a display that tells you how much energy Nimrod has left for himself, and how much he has left for his gun (sexism at work there - no reason why Nimrod can't be a she of course...) and how much time is left - you effectively have 100 earth minutes.

You can jump up onto the walls by running over certain special squares which act like springboards. Other squares repel you, some drain energy, some act like the 'black ice' and so on. Objects include thruster packs that allow Nimrod to jump, mega-zappo-blammo-blasters which can blow away walls and blocks, blocks which can be moved around to act as stepping stones to higher levels, packing cases with ammo in, and TV monitor screens which supply maps of each matrix.

One neat option is to dump each screen to printer - great for the mappers among us! What else! Oh yeah, the more you visit each individual matrix, the tougher the defences get - so try and get in and out in one go.

But, whether or not the plotline is original, and whether or not the graphics echo one or two other games around, the important thing is how good the game is - and The Final Matrix scores very highly here, 'cos it's fabbo, honest. It's also fairly difficult. I think I must have spent more time watching Nimrod getting vaporized that I did actually guiding the little blighter around the matrices. So if you enjoy this sort of game already - and let's face it, you must have seen enough other programs very much like it to know - then you'll love his one.

Label: Gremlin
Price: £7.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tamara Howard

Latest out of Gremlin's goodie-bag is The Final Matrix.

After Thing Bounces Back, which was fast, furious and complex. Matrix is more trundle-ly (huge sighs of relief all round) but damn near impossible.

Why, you may be asking? Well, here's the basics first. The Bioptons are small, cute and metallic. Returning from a space outing, several Biopton's found themselves hi-jacked by the mean old Cratons, and carted off to the sinister prison complex, the Matrices. Rubbing their hands with glee (or whatever the Cratons have that pass for hands) the Cratons informed the Bioptons that there was no hope, that the hostages would be assassinated in 99 aeons (approximately 99 earth minutes) and there was nothing they could do about it.

Wrong. Enter Nimrod, the bravest Biopton of them all, who volunteered to beam down on to each of the Matrices in turn and rescue the good guys whilst wasting the bad guys.

So there you have it. A 3D prison-complex-room-game, seek and find, kill the bad guys, collect the hostages, get the hell out of there. No sweat. But there is. Because this game is weird!

Probably the most weird thing about Matrix is what should be the most simple thing, controlling the character of Nimrod. The sensation that you get is rather as if Nimrod is on ice - he carries on moving after you've let go of the joystick. Which makes life terribly tricky when he's balanced precariously on the top of a wall, with a whole heap of nasties underneath, just waiting for him to fall. A lot of lives get wasted just getting yourself familiarised with the controls.

Visually, The Final Matrix is pretty nice. The sprites are large and clear, and Nimrod's antennae jiggle about very fetchingly as he trundles along. The three-dimensional aspect of the game is beautifully drawn. As well as moving up and down and side to side, Nimrod can climb walls.

And are there lots of Cratons! They're just so mean you wonder if they had an unhappy childhood or something. They follow Nimrod about, shooting deadly laserbolts at him, and aren't very good at dying. And the danger doesn't stop there. As well as the guards, there are wire-frame beasties which mirror Nimrod's every move, pushing him into corners. There are disruptors which shoot across the screen and knock everyone off course. There are mines, which result in immediate and severely debilitating death. And there are squares which sap energy, squares which catapault you back in the direction you came from... etc etc...

To help Nimrod (you mean he gets help?) there are blocks to push about and hem the Cratons in, energy replenishing squares, ammunition-replenishing squares and armouries where he can change his weapons. There's also a TV monitor which allows him to scan the area and see how many guards and traps there are around the place.

You have only a limited supply of ammunition and energy, and there's no indication as to where the replenishing squares are.

You use up a fair bit of ammunition killing just one Craton, and on even the simplest Matrix there are at least four guards. Strategy is all important, but it's terribly hard to formulate a good one when you can't see where you're going because the screen's so small (and that's a major flaw) and even if you could, you have no idea where the people that you're looking for are.

The only hint I can think of are to start on Pludos, which seems to be the easiest Matrix, and to keep at it.

The Final Matrix is obviously an impressive game, both visually and conceptually. But the gameplay is hard to cope with at first, and if you're someone lacking a lot of patience, then you might find that you get fed up with being dematerialised within twenty-five seconds.

Oh, and watch out for the black ice.

MACHINES: Amstrad/Commodore/Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Gremlin
PRICE: £9.99
VERSION TESTED: Spectrum/Amstrad

Intergalactic kidnapping is suddenly big business, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason for it, except to populate the ominous Matrix prisons owned by the Cratons.

The latest victims are harmless mechanical race called the Bioptons who, despite their request that they be left alone to rust in peace, are not about to scrap their buddies. Fiendish security systems make a rescue attempt impossible by anything other than a lone Biopton.

Nimrod is chosen by the Biopton Government, given a space ship and told to land on each section of the Matrix planetary network, overcome the security devices and rescue hostages. There are a seemingly infinite number of matrix prisons on which to land and a limited amount of time - 99 minutes - before the hostages are executed.

You're first given the opportunity to select a matrix level by scanning a cursor across a star map on your space ship's viewer. Pressing fire when you are over one of these level takes you down to a landing sight to which you'll return with your hostages or if you want to get back to your ship for any other reason, such as your energy's running low.

Nimrod is lightly armed when he enters a complex but he'll need to find other weaponry, such as the Lazatron, Megabolt and Megatron if he's to deal with the monsters and traps the Cratons have left for intruders. The guards are the most obvious of his worries and, if his firepower is low, it's best to be out of any situation which involves them.

The ground is laden with energy distruptors, spikey mines, floor pad operated doors, black ice, rebound and energy loss squares. Rebound squares are particularly dangerous if arranged in a semi-square. Once you're in its arms it takes a lot of force to break free of the magnetic push and pull. As for the black ice, I'm not sure whether you fall through into the depths of the prison or into a black hole.

Cratons are unusual captors; they've included elements in their prisons which'll help potential rescuers. You can leap up onto walls stepping on blue arrow squares and read your position off a map displayed when you step on a square marked 100 - or Loo. I'm again not sure. There are also crates, labelled like alphabet bricks, scattered around which you can push onto the floor pads for the pressure activated doors.

A final word of warning - which is more than Nimrod got from his government. Be careful when you jump onto the wall tops of the prison, Each level is split into several large sections with black space in between. If you fall into the space it drains your energy and you lose the only life you've got.

The Final Matrix is a combination of game concepts put to good use. It's Knightlore, Nexor, Terror of the Deep, and Star Raiders rolled into one and even Nimrod looks similar to the robot in Martianoids. The 3D display is similar to Ultimate, but it's slightly off perspective and scrolls slowly both on the Spectrum and Amstrad versions.

It's still an action packed and frustrating game despite the technical criticism, although I still can't work out why the Bioptons were kidnapped in the first place. Gremlin never tell you but then, I expect they were too busy thinking about the features to worry about gaps in the story line.