Hi-Tec Software
£2.99

Hong Kong Phooey, number one super guy, Hong Kong Phooey, faster than a human eye... I think that's how it goes, but I'll have to hear it on a Maxell (ha, ha!). Yeh, one of my all time favourite cartoon characters has got his own game. I loved ol' Phooey when he was on the box, I used to come home from school, sit down with my cup of tea and watch it (aah, fond memories). Now you all can come home and play it!

To tell you the truth I was slightly disappointed when I first played this, I was expecting that catchy tune to strike up when it finished loading, but alas, I had to hum it myself.

Hong Kong Phooey is famous for his 'Hong Kong book of Kung Fu' and swotting up on the book is essential to complete the game battle through hordes of nasty blokes using the Hong Kong Phooey Chop!. And really, that's it! So, after a while, you may find it all repetitive. Sprites and backgrounds are well drawn and animated, but the game is let down on colour and sound. All you get is the yucky yellow monochome and the odd splurge effect. Graphics on the status panel at screen bottom are a little better with big pictures of Mr Phooey in his various guises.

Hong Kong Phooey is an enjoyable romp - especially if you're a fan of the cartoon (or just a mild mannered janitor).

BARGAIN BASEMENT

This month, Bargain Basement is brought to you by YS's two (almost) resident heart-throbs (or so they keep telling us) JONATHAN DAVIES and RICH PELLEY. Hoorah!

Hi-Tec
£2.99
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

Hong Kong Phooey. Blimey (he muses sagely) - what a great cartoon that was, eh readers? Bit of a shame it hasn't been on telly for absolutely ages though, 'cos what with good ol' Hong Kong and his trusty cat getting themselves into all sorts of mischief every Friday afternoon, it really was a 'hoot'. Didn't they used to hurl themselves out of filing cabinets or something? Oh well, perhaps not. But (but, but!) would you believe me if I was to tell you that the game is twice as good as the cartoon ever was? Nope, you probably wouldn't. Which is a good thing too - 'cos I am in fact telling complete porky pies - it isn't. But don't go to pieces it's not tragically bad or anything. In fact (dare I say) this little sucker's quite good. The best bit's probably the graphics - hardly anything worth jumping up and down about, but as The Phooey emerges, mask and dressing-gown askew, he looks so cute it makes me go all wibbly at the knees. Just check out the screenshot to see what I mean. As for the rest of the game - well, it's not bad at all (for a so-called cheapy), although nothing much happens - you just trundle along punching and kicking various people all day in search of one Baron Von Bankjob who's just escaped from prison (the scamp). Nothing brilliant as I've said, but certainly one worth 'checking out'.

Label: HiTec
Price: £2.99
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

I was never quite sure what sort of animal Hong Kong Phooey was mean to be - some sort of deranged timber-wolf, I thought. Turn's out he's actually Penrod Pooch, inept doggy janitor of the police department, he lives in a dusty filing cabinet and his faithful assistant Spot is a police cat.

It could only happen in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, so it's no surprise that HKP is another of HiTec Software's budget licences. This one isn't quite up to the standard of Yogi's Great Escape or Ruff and Reddy, but it's a reasonable slice of martial arts mayhem.

The Plot - originally written on the back of a cigarette packet over lunch with Mr Hanna, I presume - goes just a little like this. Baron von Bankjob has escaped from jail. This is not a nice man; he's the type who eats puppies on toast for breakfast. HKP has a get the cuffs back on him, so complete with mask and kimono, his kung-fu manual tucked in his back pocket and his paws tangled up in his black belt, he negotiates the manifold perils of von Bankjob's deserted warehouse.

There isn't a lot of detail in the backgrounds; broken windows, staircases and conveyor belts just about sums it all up. HKP romps along quite convincingly, but has a tendency to float rather than walk down stairs, which can be a bit disconcerting. His strength is shown on the Kung-Fu-ometer on the lower left of the screen, and is sapped by running over or jumping into spikes, or being clobbered by von Bankjob's goons. These are pretty easy to hit - HKP has a number of martial movements which take them out with a single blow - but if you miss your chance, you'll probably be drained off enough energy to lose a life. On lower levels they start shooting at you too, which is pretty rotten and uncartoonlike.

There are two types of object to collect - kung-fu manuals which restore your strength, and power flasks which seem to do exactly the same. Other than that it's just a matter of jump, hit, follow the staircases, jump, hit, woof woof...

Not a classic then, but if you're a big fan of the dopey dog you might want to play it while you're singing the song - all together now; "Hong Kong Phooey, Number One super guy, Hong Kong Phooey, faster than the human eye..."

Hit-Tec
Spectrum £2.99

this old cartoon used to be on telly when I was but a mere sprogling, and featured a totally useless crime-fighting dog(?) and his sidekick cat, Spot (who usually pulled the moronic mutt out of a tight situation).

Now Hi-Tec has translated this ageing series onto computer, and quite frankly, the end result should have been left in the archives with the cartoon. The game itself is a beat 'em up, with Hong Kong moving around a jerky scrolling maze of platforms, smacking seven pules out of his attackers. He has to hunt down Baron von Bankjob (no sniggering, please!), and slam him in the nick.

Energy is lost by contact with the bad guys, but replenished by picking up Kung Fu manuals and flasks. Control is, er, sluggish (understatement of the month), and graphics are jerky and poorly animated. Overall, a totally naff licence, and not even worth the money as a budget beat 'em up. Disappointing.