Hecti is a smart insect indeed, he's so smart he's gone and got himself computerised so he can crack computer crime and stuff. He is, if you will, an Insector, and this is his first case. Mark Caswell decided to help him out by telling other small creatures to bug off!

Hi-Tec Software
£2.99

An evil villain calling himself Victor Virus has invaded a highly sensitive area called the Interchange. Now Hecti must enter the 50 levels of the Interchange and re-align all the junction blocks. Not so easy when Victor's henchmen are after you and there's a tight time limit in which to complete each level.

The first few are fairly easy. The action is viewed from above, looking straight down onto the maze. Most of the maze is intact but you'll notice from the screenshots how some of the blocks are out of place. It's these you have stand on and twist back into line.

But be warned: the henchmen are fast on their toes and, as it can be difficult to see which blocks are out of place, you may walk off the edge into oblivion.

UGLY BUG'S BALL

You start the game armed with a ball that can be thrown at attackers (rather like the old arcade classic Mr Do), but its range is limited, as is your supply of them.

Hecti's HQ are kind enough to teleport various useful items to you: Imploders destroy all attackers on the screen; Shields do the obvious, as do Speed-Ups, and Stasis freezes the swine in their tracks.

So basically, there you have it - complete each of the increasingly difficult mazes without being squished by the bugs, running out of time or walking off a block that's twisted the wrong way.

To begin with, I found the gameplay very frustrating, mainly because of the 'oh dear, I can't see the edge… aaaaargh' syndrome. But, after much squinting and practice, you can help Hecti dodge his way around the nasty bugs and punch their lights out.

The graphics are very detailed but sound is limited to an okay title tune and a few in-game spot effects. Overall, Infer Change is a fast paced and playable game that on later levels is really hair-tearing.

MARK [86%]

Imagine Pac-man, Mr Do and, erm... some tricky puzzle game a bit like Pipe Mania. Okay? Squish all those ideas together and you got some idea of how neat Inter Change is. We like puzzle games and we like them even more at a cheerful price so Inter Change is pretty much ideal fodder. The gameplay's fast, furious and wildly addictive and the building difficulty level is just right, so you can get the hang of the controls and develop a few tactics before the really hard bits set in. Oh yeah, and a rousing 'hurrah!' to the programmers for putting in a password system so you can skip the levels you've mastered. The only problem Inter Change suffers from is the over-detailed graphics on the floor tiles - it can get confusing and a strain on the eyes at time. Never mind, you'll get hours of brain-blending fun with this one, and no mistake.
RICHARD [82%]

Hi-Tec
£2.99 cass
Reviewer: Jonathan Davies

Never ones to hedge their bets, Hi-Tec have decided to take a break from cartoon tie-ins (don't worry - only for a day or two) and come up with something completely new - a puzzle game. They've even had a crack at writing their own plot! Here it is...

You're Insector (sic) Hecti. the world's first computerised detective (apart from Adam Waring, of course), and you've been assigned to the Interchange which has been invaded by Victor Virus and his deadly gang.

Crumbs. Now you can see why Messers Hanna and Barbera have got so much money. Still, not having had to lavish too much dosh on expensive cartoon characters means that Hi-Tec have had plenty to spare for coming up with a decent game. Or have they? (Thunderclap.) Well, yes they have actually. It's a puzzle game, as I may have mentioned already, and quite an original one at that. Like most puzzle games the screen is covered in coloured squares, only this time they make up a maze with lots of baddies running round it. Touch a baddy and lose a life. Okay, you might say, all fair and dinkum, but it sounds more like a maze game than a puzzle game. Can't you slide the blocks around or something? Well no, but you can rotate them by standing on them and pressing Fire. This is handy because the maze isn't quite there' to starl off with, and you can't get off the level until it is. It's also handy because if you're getting chased by a baddy you can flip the walls round and block him off. Or shoot him. (You get a limited number of bouncing balls - oo-er - for this very purpose.)

And it's really good, in a slightly crap budgety sort of way. Attribute probs make it hard to see what's what at times, but the overall effect is jolly addictive indeed. And with 50 screens, and things to collect too. we're looking at quite a barg. Go get it, I should.