SAM CENTRE

Salutations SAM fans! It's time to wave your arms in the air and welcome JON PILLAR. Hurrah!

Revelation
£9.99
Reviewer: Jon Pillar

The magic of print, eh? in just a few words we can all be transported back to the days of Speccy history without any of that 3D light-field malarkey. See? We're here already. The reason for this little trip is to take a look at one of the classiest classics of all. It is of course Manic Miner, that never-bettered platform leap-about. The plot behind the game is that Miner Willy, Surbiton's noted spelunker, has tumbled down a mineshaft. Far beneath the Earth, he discovers the remnants of an ancient civilization. Well, money and mining robots actually. He has to dodge the robots and grab the cash in order to open the portal to the next cavern, ultimately returning to the surface with a dusty head and a fat bank account. Capital, isn't it? Now if you hold on tight we'll flip back to the present day, just in time to greet the SAM incarnation of that very same game. And knock me senseless with a pig on a stick if it's not a corker as well.

Updating the graphics and soundtrack, but intelligently retaining the pixel-perfect timing that made the original so agonisingly addictive, SAM MM comprises three sets of twenty screens each. Unlike the Speccy version you don't get a preview of the levels at the beginning of the game. This means that each new screen is a surprise; and quite often a nasty one, as the designers have been devious. Cutting to the quick, SAM MM is a super game. The pretty graphics, funky music and jaunty FX are well matched by the viciously addictive gameplay. Such a combination is hard to beat, which funnily enough sums up the game as a whole. Stump up and get stuck in.

SAM
Revelation
£9.99 disk only

Manic Miner's so old it was probably played by primitive man in his mud hut - it hasn't even been reviewed in the hallowed pages of CRASH. MARK CASWELL resists the temptation to crack any 'minor willy' jokes as he enter the catacombs under CRASH Towers...

Surbiton must be the most famous town in the country (after Milton Keynes, of course). Not only was The Good Life filmed there, it's also where Manic Miner's set.

As the Speccy version of the game was released a decade or so ago and my memory ain't what it used to be (who am I? what am I? why is the Ed brandishing a machette?), here's the basic plot.

IT'S A GOOD LIFE

Miner Willy's in the catacombs below Surbiton (as dug by Tom and Barbara Good while chasing their goat one Sunday afternoon) and can't go back the way he came. But there's a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel (the 3.58pm London to Birmingham, methinks): if Willy can conquer the 60 caves (three sets of 20) that stand in his way, peaceful Surbiton life will be his once more.

Life ain't that simple, though (and don't I know it, mutter, moan, whinge). There are plenty of creatures out to make sure Willy earns his angel harp and wings.

You start in one of three sets of caves, each more brain-boggling than the last. In each cave there area set amount of objects to collect, while dodging weirdo creatures in the process, of course.

BLUE FACES, AHOY

There's another obstacle in the guise of limited air - take too long to complete a cave and you'll asfix... aspix... oh sod it, suffocate.

Once all the objects are collected in a cave, the exit flashes (and is arrested for indecent exposure), so enter the warp to attempt the next. Revelation may seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel this month but their three offerings are all classics. Manic Miner's probably the best of the lot, especially as the programming team have added 40 caves to the original 20. I wholeheartedly agree with Al - the overall mark should be tripled.

The gameplay's just as tough as in the Speccy offering of yesteryear. The risk of tailing foul of the many traps in the game, as well as asphyxiation if you're not fleet of foot, add great angst to the proceedings.

Manic Miner's tough, make no mistake about it. but it's a darn good game no self-respecting SAM owner should miss.

MARK [87%]

'Oh no,' I thought, 'not another crap remake of a dust-covered antique game.' It's many a long year since Miner Willy got stuck down that mineshaft - apparently rescue attempts have been abandoned. So here he comes to battle the Kong beast and dodge ostriches yet again. And it's extremely similar to the original Speccy release. (Cue a communal groan from all frustrated SAM players who know their wonderful machines can do so much more than this.) But hold on a mo before you jump off that tall building with SAM in hand - Manic Miner's still a blinkin' good game. Those 40 extra levels are all as mad and brain bashing as the original ones, so this is three times as good a game. Not bad, en?246%. Well, I said it's three times as good as the original, didn't ? Oh, all right then.
ALAN [89%]