Producer: Silversoft, 16K
£5.95

A good classic version, but the inlay card is all over the place telling us N = down, when it's M, and 5 starts a new game when it's S. In fact the keys used are quite sensible. No joystick option.

Producer: Silversoft, 16K
£5.95

A good classic version, but the inlay card is all over the place telling us N = down, when it's M, and 5 starts a new game when it's S. In fact the keys used are quite sensible. No joystick option.

Producer: Silversoft, 16K
£5.95

A good classic version, but the inlay card is all over the place telling us N = down, when it's M, and 5 starts a new game when it's S. In fact the keys used are quite sensible. No joystick option.

ELECTRO GOBBLE - PACMAN TYPE GAMES

In our sixth comparison, reviewers CHRIS PASSEY and MATTHEW UFFINDELL snatch a glass of water and a handful of power pills and prepare to do battle with a legion of ghosts...

Pacmania came over from the States quite a while back. Initially the game was regarded as odd in that it was relatively non-violent for a computer game, but it rapidly established itself as the number one arcade favourite. Although the craze is over now, there are still a lot of pacfans around. As a classic maze game, Pacman was among the first arcade originals to be copied in numerous forms on to the Spectrum. Copyright owners, Atari International, have been promoting their expensive 'official' version since before Christmas, but it competes against some very strong 'unofficial versions. Some are good, some not so good, and there are some interesting variants.

In brief, the classic version should have a medium complex maze connected horizontally by a wrap around tunnel. In the four corners are a similar number of power pills. Each pathway of the maze is regularly dotted. In the centre is a 'home' for ghosts of differing colours and point values, which are released into the maze at intervals. The object is to take your Pacman, an orange ball with a gobbling mouth, around the maze and eat all the dots to promote to a more difficult screen with more intelligent ghosts. Eating a power pill will cause all the ghosts to turn blue and edible. In this condition they should run away from your approach at a slower speed than yourself, Strawberries appear at intervals and can be eaten for bonus points.

Producer: Silversoft
Memory Required: 16K
Retail Price: £5.95

Here the graphics are on the small side but at least they are pretty smooth. The maze seems very big (too big) making the pace a bit slow, and I don't think this is a very good version really. Although fruit bonus points are included both Pac and the ghosts have been changed (sacrilege!). The key layout isn't one of my favourites either. I didn't really enjoy this one - mind you, it's getting on a bit now!
CP

With this particular version it can take up to five minutes to eat up all the dots in the maze, not because the game is slow but because the mazes are so large and complex. The characters move smoothly and are quite colourful but small. Power pills have the usual effect of turning ghosts edible. A warp tunnel is included. As the game progresses the speed increased dramatically until the game is totally unplayable. Not the best, but very fast.
MU

ANIMALS AND VEGETABLES

Muncher, Slippery Sid and the Cyber Rats are all arcade creatures from three new games for the 16K Spectrum. The games are from Silversoft, no stranger to the Sinclair arcade scene.

Cyber Rats is the most impressive of the three. The game is a little like Centipede but instead of one long worm there are dozens of metal rats moving down the screen towards your laser base. The hopping spiders of the centipede game are replaced by deadly purple rats which appear from nowhere.

The second is Slippery Sid. You must drive your snake around the screen, eating the mushrooms as you go bu not hitting the stones. You must also beware of poisonous toadstools which cannot be eaten unless you have first devoured a mushroom.

When you have cleared one screenful another screenful appears with more obstacles between Sid and the mushrooms.

The final new release is Muncher, which is almost a standard Pacman game. There are a few subtle differences between it and the traditional game. The Pacman is a skull and the ghosts are slimmer than normal. The centre of the maze is no longer the home of the ghosts - it houses a prize cherry. During the game two doors will slide open, giving Muncher access to the prize.

All three games are excellent but there are a few errors in the documentation accompanying them. In Cyber Rats the location of the fire button, the space key, is not disclosed and in Muncher the down key should be 'N' and not 'M'.

Each of the games costs £5.95 and they are available from Silversoft, London House, 271-273 King Street, London W6.