The Hit Squad
£2.99 re-release

Stuff a donut into your mouth, put your foot on the gas and let rip into the world of car chases, lunatic villains and a boss with a gut wider than the Atlantic! All Points Bulletin, or APB for short, is a cartoon-style game with wacky animations and addictive gameplay galore.

At the start of each day the boss gives you, Officer Bob, a quota to meet. This is made up of different types of people who need police attention - anyone from young ladies stranded in their cars to murderers and speeders.

To arrest the blighters you have to move your siren over the top of them (it's a bit like using crosshairs in a shoot-'em-up). Early in the game you need only use the siren once but the worse the criminal gets the more sirens you'll need to use to arrest them.

As well as everyday police duties you also get APBs on dangerous villains coming into your patch. If you track one of these down you have to bash their car off the road to arrest them. Succeed and get them back to the station and the game flips to an interrogation screen where you waggle the joystick left and right to make them confess. This has to be do before the boss arrives at the door and catches you in the brutal act or the criminal will go free!

APB captures the playability of the arcade machine perfectly, all the elements that made it so addictive intact. You even get the animated sequences between days and when you've used up all your demerits Officer Bob is shown being thrown into a dustbin. A great game that I simply can't put down!

Domark/Walking Circles
£9.99/£14.99

The Tengen arcade original of this was fantastic, so I was expecting something really naff in conversion, because usually, the more polished the arcade game, the less playable the conversion. But not so! This is the business!

The town which you police has more than its fair share of drug dealers, litter louts, damsels in distress and hookers. As Officer Bob, you have to deal with the problem! At the beginning of each day, the Police Commissioner issues you with the day's tasks, which naturally become harder as you become more proficient. The first day simply involves training by aiming your siren at traffic cones, but as the week wears on, the quota of arrests which you have to make increases.

Instead of losing lives, you collect demerit points. Every time you crash, fall to pick up an arrest subject or make any other major mlsdemeanour, you clock one of these, up to a limit at which the game ends.

The baddies fall into two categories; the normal, run-of-the-mill baddles, like litterbugs, hitchers, dopers and honkers (that isn't Richard after a night at the Indian, by the way). These can be arrested by blasting your siren (represented by the cross-hairs in front of your car) at them, or in the case of hitchers and poor ladies whose cars have broken down (called Helps, 'coz that's what they shout) just by picking them up for running 'em over!).

Alternatively, after the third level, you can try and go for the major criminals, who drive distinctive cars; you can't 'siren' these; they have to be pushed off the road. Then it's a mad dash back to the station to question your prisoner; waggle the joystick to beat up the suspect (!?), but make sure you force a confession before the commissioner gets in!

A.P.B. is an excellent conversion, it's fast and addictive, the scrolling is very quick, and the inbetween sequences are amusing and colourful. This is arguably one of the best Spectrum arcade conversion I've seen. A must buy!

MIKE [93%]

Ello, 'ello, 'ello! What's going on here then? Well officer, it's that brilliant arcade game All Points Bulletin on the Spectrum, and what a fantastic conversion it is too. All the thrills and spills of the arcade machine are included, along with the animation sequences and jokes that made the original such a hit. The road layout, shops, buildings and cars are all detailed but monochrome, and the cartoony sections where Officer Bob gets praised or fired are great fun. Just to add that extra obstacle there's a railway line running right across the road with some lunatic train drivers! All the brilliant graphics, the sound track and effects will keep you coming back for more. A.P.B. is set to become a classic, you'll kick yourself if you miss it!
NICK [92%]

Tengen (Domark)
£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk
Reviewer: Kati Hamza

APB? Whossat stand for, then? Well... erm... it's obvious really. It means (sounds of dictionary being opened and banged shut very fast)... All Points Bulletin. And if you still can't tell your APB from your GBH or your BCG, all that means is a report on a particularly hard core criminal that all the cops on the street have to look out for or they're in big trouble with the Sarge.

Right. Now we've got that sorted out let's have a butcher's at this 'ere coin-op conversion. You're Officer Bob - an ordinary sort of cop on eight day's street patrol. If he survives 'til the end of the week, he should be left with a hefty wad. If he fouls up, wham, he loses all his money and gets shoved out of the force.

Each day, as you're driving around your eight-way scrolling patch, you've got to pick up a quota of litterbugs, hitchers and dopers, collect bonus items (time, money, fuel, equipment) and respond pretty pronto whenever you get an APB.

Crash, kill an innocent bystander or ram some law-abiding granny off the road and you get a demerit (too many and you're out on your ear). Pull someone in on time and you get a cash bonus - something extra for the wife and kids. Aaah.

APB suspects should be rammed off the road and gently persuaded to confess (throttle them). Just waggle the joystick and that big, fat reward is all yours.

Basically, what it all bolls down to is a heavily spiced-up version of Spy Hunter (whaddya mean, you don't remember it?). Apart from some rather spiffy little cartoon touches in between levels - the Sarge breathing fire at you, for instance - the graphics aren't really anything to write home about. But who cares when the gameplay's there?

You could be a bit disappointed by the look of the thing I suppose - the sprites are tiny and more or less unanimated, and it's all in monotone, but then take a gander at the coin-op. Hardly stunning, was it? More cute and playable. Once you've sussed out the controls (your car is dragged along by the cursor) you'll find the quotas get tougher at a nice, steady pace, and there's a whole world of dangerous highways to explore. I was going to write that the simple graphics at least free up the Speccy to do its famous smooth, fast and playable tricks, until I remembered a few niggles. The scrolling, while generally very good, can jerk around in a confused fashion if you spin the car too much, and there is some slightly ropey collision detection too. The soundtrack drones on a bit as well (but you can always turn it off). Still, not too much to whinge about when you've got a triffo game, now, is it Gerald? No.

Now, there's just one thing I had to say... no, it's gone. Oh yeah. I remember - gogedditwhydon'tyou?

Label: Domark
Author: In-house
Price: £8.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Jim Douglas

Woop! Woop! Woop! APB (All Points Bulletin) is like a cross between Grand Prix Simulator and Chase HQ. And does it hold together? Well, not quite, actually.

The premise of the game is that you, Officer Bob (?) are out on the mean streets, patrolling for reasonably minor offences like littering and vagrancy when - woop! woop! - an APB comes over the radio and you must wade in with the big boys and take on serious criminals - bank robbers, drug dealers and the like.

The screen is viewed in monochrome from above and the controls are revolve left, revolve right, accelerate and decelerate and PUT ON THE SIREN!

Putting on the siren is the equivalent of firing for most day to day use.

Before you go out on patrol, you are briefed as to what sort of criminals need attention on the current shift. Initially there is a training exercise involving collecting cones with "arrest me" written above them. This act is performed by driving towards them and holding down fire. Ahead of your car (at an escalating distance indicating your speed) a "pull over" message floats in the air. Once you've held this sign on the target for the desired amount of time, you will successfully apprehend the suspect.

Hardened criminals are obviously unlikely to respond to a single weedy instruction to stop. They may need a great deal of persuading or even running off the road. Each "collar" will add to your score. You've only got until the end of the shift to make your allocated number of arrests. Fail, and you'll be booted out of the force.

Where APB fell down for me was the gameplay. I'd accepted the rather ropey graphics, and was sure the action-packed gameplay would remedy all. Alas no. The problem is that a car chase game should involve a lot of driving very fast and a lot of smashing about without a great deal of accuracy. Alas, the GPIIesque overhead view prohibits this. I found that as soon as any reasonably exciting speed was reached, it was impossible to make any of those exciting, tyre squealing moves. This may well make for an accurate driving situation, but it means you spend the whole game PC Plodding around the town.

Any attempt to speed up the pace to, say, the speed of other drivers on the road resulted in irritating crashes which, after a concentrated attempt at a high speed chase left me far from being a laughing policeman.

The theory of the game holds together quite well; you can act just like a real policeman and hide in entirely unfair places and catch speeding criminals, or drive around woo-woo-ing innocent passers by. However, despite all of this, actually playing the game doesn't really appeal.

It isn't possible to slide around properly either. It would have been much better were you able to slide the tail around rather than spin about like a top. Again, this saps some of the excitement.

There are lots of features, like being penalised for mowing down pedestrians, and the APB which issues a description of the sort of car your next arrest should be driving and what exactly he has been up to. Unfortunately, those don't really make up for the other points.

APB has a number of good features. It may well be a fine purchase to fill a few hours, but it doesn't really have much "grab" quality.

Label: Domark
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99 Tape, n/a Disk
Reviewer: Alan Dykes

You're nicked mate!. Officer Bob your friendly, local, road rozzer is here once again, this time on budget, to protect the general public from the greater excesses of the city criminal fraternity. If you haven't already been captured by him then read on, it might just rehabilitate you.

For those who haven't been brought up on a diet of cop movies and T V.shows, an A.P B is an order to apprehend a criminal on sight anywhere and by anyone. Bob has to go through sixteen one day shifts and pick up so many criminals it will make your mind boggle. These include Litterbugs, Honkers, Hitchers, Dopers and Drunks as well as answering help calls and picking up cones. Naturally you must avoid knocking down buildings or pedestrians and for doing naughty things like this you get demerit points.

You see Officer Bob is apparently a bit of a lad, and the police chief doesn't trust him very much. Thus if you get nine demerits during a day's work the boss will fire you. On the plus side the pay is good as Bob can earn between 2000 and 23,000 for a days work, not bad. eh?.

The main screen shows the mean city streets from a bird's eye view and there is four directional control over Officer Bob. His car has incredible acceleration which can make it difficult to avoid the curb or stay in the right lane, but once you get used to it it works out o.k. The graphics aren't bad at all but I wish the criminals were marked a little clearer.

All Points Bulletin is a simple, fun game that is quite playable if a little frustrating at first. It is firmly at home as a budget release and is worth a look on a long summers evening.

GARTH'S COMMENT:
I've always been a great fan ofAPB after spending hours on a rainy day in Rhyl on the arcade version.

Domark, £14.99, Atari ST, version reviewed Issue 25, Ace Rating 762

APB was one of those arcade games that, while it was far from advanced on the graphics and sound front, scored highly in the playability stakes. Colourful, cartoon style sprites and easily mastered gameplay gave it an appeal lacking in many more sophisticated machines. It casts you as officer Bob, a hard-working highway patrol-man trying to keep up with his daily quota of arrests. While screeching round the streets in your car arresting minor offenders, you may also have to follow up an All Points Bulletin for the arrest of a major criminal. Once you have him, it's back to the station to squeeze out a confession.

When this latest Tengen conversion appeared on the Atari ST it looked fine. The programmers had managed to capture the same amusing cartoon qualities of the original coin-op. The Spectrum version suffers seriously because of the loss of this aspect. While the sprites are all well drawn and animated, the monochrome green display looks dull and manages to make the game appear lifeless and uninteresting.

This version is still highly playable however, and if you are a Spectrum owner who liked the arcade original then you can probably live with the inadequate graphics. I can't see it keeping anybody's interest for long though.

Hit Squad
Spectrum £3.99

Calling all cars! Calling all cars! Officer Bob is on the beat, and you control him in this multilevel race against time, criminals and the wrath of the Chief! Beginning with the arrest of the odd reckless driver, you progress to more dangerous felons. APB was a smash in the arcades, mainly due to the extensive use of humorous, cartoon graphics. These have been quite successfully carried over to the Spectrum version, making APB a jolly little title to have in your budget collection.

Domark
ST, Spectrum
Spectrum £9.99, Atari ST £19.99

If you've ever wanted become a Policeman, here's your chance in this not-too-serious arcade conversion from Domark. Officer Bob is your name, and apprehending 'orrible villains is your game. But they're not your common or garden villains. There's none of this "'ello, 'ello, 'ello, what's going on 'ere then - you're nicked sonny" stuff here. No siree, Bob. Do that and you're likely to get a stick of dynamite stuffed up your nose. The felons Bob encounters are all heavily armed and don't think twice about taking pot-shots at approaching coppers...

The game begins with a practice screen in which novice rozzers can warm up by driving around a test track in their cop car. After that the action begins proper with Bob going out on his first mission. The game uses an overhead viewpoint, and the road scrolls past as Bob races along in his car.

There are a lot of criminals on the road, the most common being litterbugs. They spread rubbish from their cars, but can be arrested and fined simply by guiding the arrest cursor that floats in front of Bob's car over them and pressing fire.

Every time Bob crashes he gains a demerit - too many of those results in Bob being chucked out of the force. The car also has a limited amount of fuel - running out also results in expulsion from the force.

Arrest your quota of law breakers and head back to the station to collect bonus points. On day two the first of the big baddies appear - in this case Freaky Freddy the drug dealer. He drives around in a flowery hippy van and can only be apprehended by bashing him off the road. Arrest him and take him back to the station and you get the chance to force him to confess.

This is a really neat screen in which the shadows of Bob and his suspect, being clutched by his collar, are seen through an office window. Wiggle the joystick as fast as possible to get your confession - but be quick because the captain's coming down the stairs and if he catches Bob, he won't get a hefty confession bonus!

The game continues along these lines, with villains becoming tougher and tougher to arrest, and even more criminals taking to the road Officer Bob certainly has his work cut out attempting to keep law and order!

The ST conversion suffers from jerky scrolling and sprite movement and rather indistinct graphics, but the intermission screens are great, and the use of samples from the original machine result in an amusing game that fans of the coin-op will love.

The Spectrum version is disappointing, though it's a fairly accurate copy of the coin-op, but unfortunately has an oversensitive control method which makes it very difficult and frustrating to play. One for ardent APB fans only.

Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99
Atari ST £19.99

IT'S A FAIR COP GUV

We all know police get productivity bonuses for arrests made, and here's the game to prove it. The game starts gently enough with a couple of traffic cones to collect and return to the station. Then things get hectic. You're set loose on the freeways in your bright new patrol car chasing all sorts of felons.

A note-pad displays your current cash situation, the amount of demerits against you (an allowance of ten are given, any more and you're fired). the numbers of types of felon to capture within a time limit, and the amount of gas left in the car. Spot a perp and a jab of the fire button sets the siren going - some villains need more persuasion to stop than others, so sometimes the siren needs repeated soundings. On your crusade for truth and justice watch out for innocent bystanders, shoot or ram them and the demerit level rises rapidly.

As you collect your villainous quota, the appropriate icon is removed from your daily quota. When all the listed baddies are caught, returning to the station rewards you with an early-bird bonus, a quota bonus and a gas bonus. Some real bad baddies get you a cash bonus, and the extra dosh can be spent at the speed shop for such goodies as armour, a gun, better brakes etc. Also a visit to the donut shop awards extra time and money.

When the occasional APB (all points bulletin) goes out on some very nasty characters such as Candy Goodbody, Sid Sniper and Freddy Freak, capturing them is one thing, but actually beating a confession out of them is quite another. On the confession screen waggle the joystick like mad before the Chief reaches the torture room door. A successful confession earns you a substantial reward and the satisfaction of seeing the felon behind bars.

Domark's previous two Tengen coin-op licences were great fun to play, and APB is no exception. The action's fast and rewarding and cartoon quality graphics (watch out for the hilarious sequence where a failed player is handcuffed and thrown into a dustbin) coupled with the potential for much maniacal driving, makes APB a highly recommended game.