Producer: C.D.S.
Memory Required: 16K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code

This game is a good copy of an old arcade favourite, on the whole a not much copied game as yet. Blaby did a version, called Gold Digger, and in most respects this is very similar, although it boasts a rather splendid continuous music sound track.

The object of the game is to control your little wizard Meltec through underground caverns which he himself creates as he goes. Dotted about are lumps of lead, resembling blue diamonds, which are to be collected for points. There are also red apples (underground?) which can be pushed along an existing tunnel and made to squash the meanies by dropping them down a shaft, or one can be used to block a tunnel by undermining it. Meanies can also be killed by firing one of your five crystal balls at them. Killing meanies adds to your points. There's also a cherry on each screen which must be collected. This goes wandering about the place in a most distracted, not to say distracting manner.

Clearing a screen of lead and cherry takes you on a level to more meanies.

COMMENTS

Control keys: Q/Z up down, I/P left/right, M fires
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: very responsive
Colour. average
Graphics: small, 1-characters size, but quite fast
Sound: good
Skill levels: 9 speeds, rising difficulty
Lives: 3

Cutting out the story of wizards good and evil and dark ages when they spent their efforts obtaining lead to transmute into gold, which sounds like an adventure game, Magic Meanies is an arcade game. It's only a reasonable game, but it's fun to play.

The graphics are quite small, one-character size and they move quite jerkily, but they are called on to do very little, since much of the game's attraction lies in the skill and quick thinking required. Once on the move your man can only be stopped by running up against an apple, or by constantly reversing his direction. It's a simple game but manages to be addictive in playing. Nice, bright colours, and an insistent and continuous music track that can be turned off if it's driving anyone else mad!

Despite the simplicity of this type of game, it isn't easy to play, requiring quick reflexes. C.D.S. have also provided nine playing speeds as well as rising skill levels. At the slowest speed the game can become a bit repetitive, but at medium fast it is quite demanding. The highest speed level is sheer madness. Fairly addictive, and a good version.

This is one of those tunnelling maze games where the player's character - a wizard - makes his own maze as he goes. The idea is to defeat the magic meanies whilst picking up all the lead which can be transformed into gold.

Mark: There are already a few games of this type, but this is one of the better ones. Nine speed levels are included, and these begin quite easily, increasing to a level where a high degree of manual dexterity is required. 8/10

John: Colour and graphics, although not spectacular, are certainly adequate, giving a reasonable amount of enjoyment The plot is rather silly, but the fame's very addictive. 7/10

Tony: The graphics used in this game are a little limited - because they're one graphic block in size, and move only one block at a time. 8/10

Producer: CDS, 16K
£5.95 (2)

Despite the inlay blurb of times past and wizardry renewed, this is no adventure game. In fact a good version of the 'Dig Dug' type of mining game, where your man creates his own tunnels in search of valuables and thus his own maze, and gets chased by meanies. You're in control of Meltec (a wizard) who is seeking lumps of lead. There is also a wandering cherry on each screen which he must collect to progress to the next screen. The meanies set off chasing him up his self-created pathways - to get rid of them he can undermine the red apples and drop them on the meanies, or at least block off a pathway before dashing onto the next blue lump of lead. The graphics are quite small, one character size and they move jerkily, but the games attraction lies in the skill and quick thinking required to outwit the meanies. Sensible control keys, joystick: Kempston, 9 skill levels in speed and progressive difficulty, above average. Overall CRASH rating 58% M/C.

Memory: 16K
Price: £5.95
Joystick: Kempston

Magic Meanies, for the 16K Spectrum, gives CDS Micro Systems an opportunity to produce yet another version of Pacman, although this time there is not even a maze.

CDS has dressed-up the concept a little by calling the Pac-man Meltec and giving him hero status. Meltec has to collect all the lead and cherries in the various levels of the game, being careful not to fall into the hands of the meanies which can move around the paths he has created.

To get rid of a meanie being particularly dastardly you can fire one of five crystal balls. You can also block their paths by dropping cherries in their way. After you have completed one screen you will find another, and another, and another, which all look similar in makeup.

Once you have finished you will find yourself on the high-score table which looks interesting until you discover you have to experiment to use it. The author tells you that you must use up, down, left and right keys to compose your name but there is no information how to dolt.

Magic Meanies ranks as one of the poorer pieces of machine-coded software and has little to commend it. It can be obtained from CDS Micro Systems.

MAKER: CDS Micro Systems
MACHINE: Spectrum
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £5.95

Amazing what you can do with five crystal balls, four magic apples and a bit of creative writing. Why, you could almost convince someone this is not another variation on the well worn Dig Dug theme. The action is, we are told, set in the lead mines of the ancient mystic land of Zeldor. Here Good Wizard Meltec tunnels about carrying out his eternal quest for lead (blue blobs) which he can change into gold. The mines are, of course, guarded by evil magic meanies (reject space invaders) who chase Meltec all over the place giving the poor chap a very hard time and using up one of his three lives each time they catch him. Meltec's magic doesn't work on Zeldor (so why make him a magician?) so he has to resort to the five crystal balls which he can fire at the meanies and the four magic apples which are scattered about the play area. The only thing 'magic' about these is that they can be dropped on the meanies to squash them (score extra points for this) or used to block their path. The crystal balls are only effective at long range as Meltec has to face his attacker. Most of the time he's on the run with a meanie hot on his heels and no time to turn and fire. Graphics are good and speed can be varied over nine skill levels. Sound is good if you can bear the 'Can-Can' repeated endlessly. (My gratitude to the programmer for providing an on-off facility for the sound.) There's also a very good high-score table which can be copied to the printer for those who want to frame their achievements. A fun game, yes. Magic... not really.

MACHINE: Spectrum 16K
JOYSTICK: Kempston
CATEGORY: Arcade
SUPPLIER: CDS Micro Systems
PRICE: £5.95

The wizard on the cover of Magic Meanies looks as if he belongs to an adventure game. In fact, he's yet another graduate of the Pac-Man Horace academy, in yet another variation of the maze game.

As Meltec the Wizard you're on a screen liberally sprinkled with lead, which you must collect, and Meanies, which you must avoid. A do-it-yourself maze emerges as your passage cuts a path through the brilliant green screen, and along such paths the Meanies wander.

The object is to collect all the lead and a roaming bunch of cherries. Apples are embedded in the screen, and will fall vertically down any paths cut. By passing beneath an apple with a Meanie on your tail, you can block his path as the apple drops down.

Another way of dealing with Meanies is to zap them with crystal balls, which are floated lugubriously, rather than fired, in the direction of motion.

The game has nine skill levels, each faster, and a succession of screens, all fairly similar but with successively more Meanies. If you don't have a Kempston joystick, a convenient choice of keyboard keys has been made, and all the action happens to the accompaniment of the can-can dance music.

Clearly, this engaging music is entirely irrelevant to the concept of the game, as is the mumbo jumbo about wizards, but it's not a bad brew that results.