Producer: Melbourne House
Retail Price: £7.95
Author: Steve Taylor and Paul Gomm

By the early 21st century one in three adults are in prison. To reduce these numbers, long sentences have been replaced by rehabilitation surgery which removes a criminal's antisocial tendencies. Rehabilitated criminals (the Re-Formed or Androids), cannot think independently and take up menial positions in police no-go areas and Penal Re-Form centres.

Faced with the prospect of a reforming lobotomy, Deke has escaped from his holding prison. In so doing he damages the city's central computer, thus ensuring the inevitable destruction of the city itself.

If Deke reaches city limits he is safe, but to do that he must pass through six hostile zones - the cell blocks, guard area and prison wall, the city, down town precinct, outer city wall, and via a single exit the city wall itself. With the city heading for self destruction, Deke's escape time is limited. A running on screen countdown shows the time he has left.

Five types of android lie in wait on Deke's escape route, each can be avoided or fought. Evading opposing androids allows Deke to explore further. To do that he can run to the left or right, jump upwards or drop down to other levels and pass through doors in his multi-level platform world.

Some androids cannot be avoided, they do not let Deke pass easily and require a sustained battering with kicks and punches before they die. Others can be disposed of merely by running into them. Points are awarded for killing the lobotomised individuals, with an accumulating points total shown on screen.

Combat with androids reduces our escapee's energy levels, displayed on the right of the screen. Should these fall to zero Deke loses one of his three lives. His energy reserve is topped up by uncovering hidden supplies of food and drink. These together with keys for passing through locked doors, extra points and lives are concealed beneath boxes and oil cans and behind doors. By kicking or punching away Obscuring objects these items are revealed, automatically picked up and displayed in the box at the top right of the screen.

However, some of these hiding places conceal ambushing androids. nothing at all or are booby trapped, (when they are, a life is lost and a deaths-head appears in the acquisition box). Deke is not able to uncover any object or escape through a door whilst being attacked.

COMMENTS

Control keys: definable
Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2, Cursor
Use of colour: unimaginative
Graphics: some good animation on large characters, but generally lacking in variation
Sound: reasonable title tune, little else of note
Skill levels: one
Screens: continuous scrolling

MELBOURNE HOUSE have come up with something that we've all seen before. There isn't an iota of Knucklebusters that's completely original. The graphics are very boring and little imagination has been used on the backgrounds. Deke is well animated, but slow to react in the light sequences. The title music is very tuneful, but sound during the game contains the same old white noise effects. Knucklebusters is repetitive and represents low value.
PAUL

As a full price game, Knucklebusters hasn't a lot offer. The graphics are nice enough, with some pleasant animation, particularly on the main character, but I had a problem finding much playability in there. The basic storyline is okay (if slightly short), but the game itself seems to lack any amount of new ideas or interesting bits. The tune and effects are good, but a successful game needs more than pretty graphics and funky music to do well, as I'm sure the folks at MELBOURNE know. Not the best game they've ever produced.
MIKE

I couldn't believe that Knucklebusters was a full-price release, you certainly don't get much for your £7.95. The graphics are'pretty basic, and the characters (though well defined) tend to repeat themselves, adding no depth to the gameplay. There is some good animation though, especially the smoothness of the central character. The title tune is very original, but listening to it is the only real pleasure to be gained from this program. I don't think that Knucklebusters will get very far.
GARETH.

Melbourne House
£8.95

Twenty-two, forty-one, hut, hut! Ah yes, I love a good American football game - all the blood, all the gore. Whaddya mean its not a football game? Why's he wearing that helmet then?

Knucklebusters is a strange game. You are Deke, a wanted man who's escaping from the lobotomy labs, where people with criminal minds are reformed by specialist doctors. You have absolutely no desire to be reformed, so you've made a break, disabling the security system in the process. Unfortunately for you this has turned the entire complex into a time bomb. Unless you get out fast, you're going to turn into a Kentucky Fried Criminal!

You control Deke as he tries to escape, a task made hard on this three-level extravaganza by the presence of androids, which come in a delightful range of colours, white being the easiest to kill. You have no weapons to dole out the death, though, only your fists and your feet. Mind you, it isn't exactly martial arts, so you don't need to run.

There are doors to go through that lead to other levels. Some are locked, and you need keys to get into them. Here's where the serious gaming comes in. Under various objects are small ones such as keys, food, extra lives and bonus points. However, if you're not careful, you'll stumble across poisonous things that sap nearly all your strength and leave you easy to pick off. When you do fight or kick an object, a third of the screen displays your energy, what you're carrying, your score and the amount of time you have left. You have six zones to get through and there's only one way out - assuming you haven't been mutilated on the way.

The screen scrolls smoothly and the graphics are large and well-animated. The only big gripe I have is that if you fight in front of a door, the attribute clash means you lose ol' Deke, so you can't see what you're doing. It's a playable game, though - pity about the helmet!

Label: Melbourne House
Author: Steve Taylor/Paul Gomm
Joystick: various
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Jack Daniel

Deke is a 21st century man. Deke is worried. Deke is in jail. Deke is also just about to have a lobotomy. Most of all, he's starring in this game called Knuckle Busters.

By the looks of all the packaging and posters, you'd think Melbourne House would like you to think that Knuckle Busters was something to do with Rollerball. It isn't. But there again, it isn't a straightforward kicky-kicky job either. After all, have you ever heard of one that actively encourages you not to fight the aliens, robots, grannies, etc?

The idea is that you've just broken out of a 21st century slammer, and in doing so have fused the Central Computer... which is going to self-destruct very soon.

What you have to do is traverse your way across the six levels of the city, get to the city wall and then out across the Green Belt. Got that so far?

The 21st century is a bit flat and inhabited by labotomised androids who will run up to you and put the boot in quicker than you can say - "well actually I think Chelsea are rather good at this football business".

So you run along, up and down the three tiers of platforms, trying to avoid fights (so as to conserve your limited supply of energy - as shown by an on-screen thermometer), kicking inanimate objects, hoping to find food (Lucozade for extra energy) or keys that will allow you to open door to the next level.

Sprites are single coloured with alright rather than superfast animation. Fighting, when you have to, is not a very skillful affair - finger on the fire button, joystick left or right - blam, blam, blam.

Ardent mappers might think it worth a go, but it really needed better combat and a fabby sound track to make it even halfway interesting.

As, I'm afraid, it has neither, it makes you wonder why they bothered.