Hi-Tec Software
£2.99

I seem to remember playing something like this in an arcade years ago... ah sweet memories! This computer version is a bit more basic and doesn't have the fun and excitement you get from racing through a digitized landscape with crowds of people watching you!

As you may have guessed, it's set in the future. All the world's governments have banned the motorcycle as we know it today. Someone who didn't really like this decision was Finnius M Houlder, a multi-billionaire who has a love for two-wheeled speed machines. He set to work on an alternative that could get around the laws: the result was Future Bike!

The bikes are well drawn and speed along at a convincing high speed. The borders supposed to represent things like cities, deserts and rapids are a different story. They are very bitty with the same sprite repeated over and over again. The action is a bit too fast really and you can't control the speed of the bike, only the directions left, right, up and down. Collecting money on the speed track levels gets you into the shop where extra weapons and add-ons can be bought.

Future Bike Simulator is a simple race game, good fun but I doubt it will keep you hooked for long.

BARGAIN BASEMENT

Fixing a leaky tap in the basement, RICH PELLEY stumbled across a few spooky cheapies clogging up the U-bend. So here they are (damp and slightly mouldy)...

Hi-Tec
£2.99
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

I dunno. We've had so many bloomin'simulators recently this one's just got to be more of the same. Oh well, suppose we'd better have a look. (A few plays later.) And I was right! Future Bike Sim is extremely repetitive, the graphics are minimal, and the sounds crap. Still, it hasn't got a David Darling quote splashed across the inlay so we should be thankful for small mercies.

But wait! I hate to admit it, but I quite liked FBS. I mean, it's so flippin' peasy it's quite a gas - you could play this little sucka with your eyes closed. There are only two keys for heavens sake - Left and Right (Up and Down didn't seem to do much). Simply zoom about as fast as poss on your motorbike-cum-hovercraft (ie a motorbike with no wheels), avoid crashing into buildings and things, and shoot all the other motorcyclists coming towards you, picking up the money they drop. At the end of each level this can be used to buy things from the weapon shop including missiles and radars. FBS? It's a cinch. And that's just the way I like it.

Label: HiTEC
Author: Dave Thompson
Price: £
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: Various
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter

There no real substitute for the motorbike. Ask anyone who's had one and they'll tell you. The motorbike stands for freedom, Great Britain, bacon breakfasts and not having to stand behind 300 old age pensioners in the bus queue so imagine all the bikers distress when in 1995 extreme legislation bans the motorcycle as we know it.

No self respecting speed freak is going to stand for that and so Finnius M Houlder, who is rumoured to be the world's richest man (and known to be several jam butties short of a picnic) decides that no-one is going to take away his favourite pastime and sets his research labs to building a bike that would get around the law - legally.

So, the year is 1999 and the Future Bike is here. An anti gravity wheeless wonder capable of speeds in excess of 300 mph. Finnius may have an lift that doesn't go to the top floor but he's also bought large amounts of motorway. The result is the Strip. Here you must do battle against fellow riders. Your only ambition ride fast and die - of natural causes.

So step up into your dream machine and do battle on the strip. The screen displays all your information on energy, lives, score and how much money you've collect by shooting the enemy (which is anyone who's in front) and collecting the money sack that they bequeath to you.

The money is used to purchase items to further your cause and how much money you've collected determines how useful a gizmo you can buy. There are missiles, side arms and even Radar with some surprising add-ons at later levels all of which are bought in the shop which just appears at various stages in the game. Select the item(s) you want, press E to exit the shop and presto! You're back on the track blasting anything that moves.

Future Bike is fast. There is no speed control because you just go flat out and try to stay on the track avoiding collisions by steering left, right and using the occasional 'hop'.

Oh yes, the bike of the future moves up and down too and there's no kickstart. There's one thing that will remain the same though. The sign of a happy biker will be dead flys sticking to his teeth.

JIM SEZ: 81%"Fastest 3D action you can get at the price.".