Producer: Domark
Retail Price: £7.95
Author: Ernisoft

Sliding block puzzles and jigsaws are as old as the Ark, but Domark and the Dutch software house Ernisoft have come up with a new, computerised variant. Although the name might suggest a tie-in with a certain TV program - don't be fooled, there's no wicked satire to be found in this game, and rubber puppets don't appear. All you have to do is work against a time limit and assemble caricatures of the famous from little blocks.

All you have to do? Well not quite. Starting with Ronald Reagan, ten cartoons of famous faces have to be pieced together if the game is to be played through to the end. At the start of each level the main playing area is empty - a zone enclosed with blue buffers. A pulsating square cursor is under your control and sits under a flashing arrow at the top left of the screen. The image that has been split appears in a small window in the status area on the right, the bar display that monitors the time you have remaining is refreshed, and play commences.

The cursor is used to shift the blocks around in the playing area. It can be moved in four directions, and once the cursor has been placed over a piece to be moved, pressing fire grabs the block. Holding fire and then moving the cursor whizzes the selected block off in the chosen direction. A moving block continues to travel in a straight line until another block or the blue buffer is hit, when it comes to rest. Pieces are brought on to the playing area by zipping the cursor under the flashing arrow, pressing fire to seize the hidden piece and moving right to fetch it into view. While the cursor is over a piece in the main play area, one of the squares on the little status panel picture turns white, revealing the correct location for that segment of the puzzle.

Twenty pieces have to be shuffled into the right order to make up each picture, and there are only four spare block positions at the top of the playzone - so some careful juggling is called for. Just to add a little variety to the game, cracks appear in some of the buffers. Blocks that are moved onto a cracked section of buffer bounce off, returning to their start point. Some of the cracks remain in the same part of the buffer throughout a level, while others hop around the place during play. Little sliding doors in the top, left and bottom buffers open and close. While a door is closed it acts as a normal section of buffer, but if a piece is shoved towards an open door it disappears from the playing area and joins the queue of pieces behind the flashing arrow.

Every so often, objects associated with the character whose likeness is being assembled are dragged into play. These objects can lead to bonus scores if you do the right thing with them - shoving the American Flag against the Russian flag for instance, earns a bonus of 1,500 points on the Ronnie Reagan screen. If one object is thrown against another object, they both dematerialise and if the right pairing has been achieved the bonus value flashes up at the point of collision before being added to the score.

Bombs are bad news - they explode five seconds after they are brought into play and have to be shoved against a tap (bonus of 5,000 points) or whisked out of an open doorway before they detonate. Failure to dispose of a bomb results in an explosion and the loss of a life. Other objects appear at random and can be combined: throwing a pistol against a bullet doubles your bonus score on that level, while matches and fuel should be kept well apart!

The number of points awarded for completing a level depends on the amount of time remaining when the final piece is slotted into place. Running out of time results in the loss of a life - but providing all three lives haven't been lost, the blocks stay in place when you die. An extra life is awarded for reaching 100,000 points and extra time can be won on later screens by sliding a diamond into another gem.

COMMENTS

Control keys: O left, P right, Q up, A down, CAP SHIFT to SPACE fire, R and T abort, H pause, J continue
Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2
Keyboard play: responsive, but a bit tricky
Use of colour: neat - no clashes
Graphics: fast moving; good caricatures
Sound: start and end tunes and spot effects
Skill levels: one
Screens: ten

While this game has almost nothing in common with the TV series it isn't based on, I thought it was great. The caricatures of the characters are excellent, and the game moves at a very rapid pace, which adds to the fun. Things like the bombs and other bonus elements contribute towards this too, making it an extremely playable game. The graphics and sound effects are nicely executed, and the game is highly addictive, with that 'one more little go' element about it. I like it. It's nice to see Domark getting their act together after the awful Friday the 13th.

This is definitely the best Domark game ever! I know that's not saying much, but Splitting Images IS a really good game, and the most surprising bit about it is that the game is so simple in construction. The presentation is well above the normal Domark stuff and suits the game perfectly - simple but stunning. I found Splitting Images was totally compelling from the first time I picked up the joystick. The graphics are excellent with very smooth scrolling and some nice sound effects. Domark seem to have got the right balance of difficulty, with the 'Reagan' screen being easy to get past and 'Maggie' being a bit harder and each subsequent level presenting that bit more of a challenge. The game features lots of nice bonuses, which can improve your score tremendously and keep you addicted to the game for ages. I would recommend you buy this, as it's definitely something different from the normal game.

Well done Domark, you've finally broken your spell of releasing poor games. I am well impressed. This is a very original, playable and compelling game. The graphics are colourful, detailed and generally well 'finished'; the characters are all recognisable; the sound is nice too - there is a tune at the beginning and some very reasonable effects during the game itself. Playing the game can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of the control, but once you do, the action gets fast and furious. Disposing of the bombs is also tricky, and going for bonus scores means some extra thinking is called for. I enjoyed playing this one as it is fun and fast moving.

Cripes! You'd better look sharpish 'cos here comes...

THE COMPLETE YS GUIDE TO PUZZLE GAMES

Yep, readers, looks like it's time once again for another one of those Complete Guide thingies. This issue, for your delight and delectation, we thought we'd take a peek at the more puzzley sort of games. Y'know - puzzle games - those sort of weird ones where you have to use a bit of the ol' grey matter to solve, erm, puzzles and things. And who better to clasp you by the hand and drag you through the world of the mind-boggling than YS's resident 'heart-throb' RICH PELLEY. Hurrah!

BUT FIRST... THE RATINGS

As usual, the normal rating system seems a bit crap in these circumstances, so here's a different one instead.

FIENDISHNESS
How complex and difficult to finish are the puzzles? Are they a complete bummer to complete, or could you do it with your little finger stuck, er, wherever you want to stick it?

LACK OF SLEEP FACTOR
Will it have you coming back for more (and more) or will a few games be enough? (Who knows?)

PULL YOUR HAIR OUT FACTOR
Is the game easy to get into, or do you have to spend ages looking up various keys, and working out what's going on all the time? (The lower the mark the better the gameplay in this case.)

VARIATION
Are the puzzles varied, or are they all the same? (Er, obvious, really.)

Okay, so I admit it - I'm crap at puzzle games. Come to think of it, I'm crap at most games really. And I'm not in a particularly good mood today either 'cos I've got a sneaky suspicion that this guide thingy is going to take absolutely ages to write. Even though Matt has reassured me "It won't take long" and Jonathan has informed me (much to my surprise) that "Honest, it'll really be a lot of fun to do" I'm a little dubious. Still, let's get on with it and see what happens, shall we?

For a start, I can see one big problem staring me in the face almost immediately. I mean, what exactly makes a puzzle game a puzzle game, eh? One man's puzzle game may another one's arcade adventure be or, um, something really. We've had countless arguments here in the office over it already (and for some reason I always seem to lose). For instance, Matt thought Arkanoid, Batty and the like might almost count, while Jonathan firmly disagreed. (In fact, if Jonathan had had his way, Tetris would be 'the only true puzzler ever written' and this would be the shortest Complete Guide on record!) Seeing as this is my feature though, and I'm writing it, everybody's going to have to agree with me!

And what is my definition? Well, it's fairly loose really. It's anything where you have to try to work out some sort of (perhaps totally abstract) mental problem against a time limit. Most great puzzle games are based on one very simple initial idea, which is then perhaps spiced up by slicking in lots of different ways that you can earn bonuses, die, get extra weapons or abilities (if it's a weapons sort of game) and so on. It's the simple initial idea that really counts though - if you haven't got that, you ain't got much really.

So what sort of puzzle games have we got here, then? Well, lots of different ones really - there are games where you must arrange blocks, make pictures, blow up balls, collect keys, and do masses more equally weird and wonderful puzzley things.

One good thing though is the scope - unlike in most areas of Speccy programming, with puzzle games you sometimes actually get a degree of originality. The games I've covered here are all good ones, and all still fairly easily available and - would you believe it? - no two of them are the same! (Well, no three of them at least.) And, erm, cripes, looks like I've run out of things to say. So, um, I'll stop waffling and get on with it, shall I?

THE FIRST PUZZLE GAME IN SPECCY HISTORY

Um, er, um. Now you re asking. Turning to the very first issue of Your Spectrum (ie Your Sinclair in disguise), I find one lurking in the first few pages. Traxx from Quicksilver is its name, and what seems to happen is that you move around this little grid thing collecting squares. Fun, eh? (Alright, I admit it. Of course there's no way that could be the first commercially available puzzle game, but it's the first I could come up with. Sorry and all that.) Anyway, on with the show.

NB Erm, actually, before we start, I'd just like to clear something up. You may notice that all the marks for the following games are quite high - there don't seem to be any crap ones. Now this isn't 'cos I'm a great puzzles fan or anything (in truth I hate them all) - it's just that unfortunately all the ones I've picked have been quite original and good. And keeping up my reviewer's credibility, I have to be fair. Hence the high marks.

Split Personalities
Domark
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

A bit of an oldie this, but its still quite good all the same.

(A few plays later.) In fact, I'd almost go as far as to say that I quite like it. But what's it all about, eh?

Well, it's kind of like those slidey puzzle games (where you must slide those plastic square bits around to make up a normally-crap piccy of Lassie or some such equally attractive persona), but with a few subtle changes to add to the fun. Firstly, you can collect the pieces one at a time, keeping them or temporarily chucking them out through a gap in the wall. Once you've got one you can't just put them where you want either - just like in the similar puzzles of the plastic kind, you have to slide them completely to one side or the other - if you see what I mean. And things get more complicated as you progress (Clive Sinclair really is a bummer to get together for instance) with things such as bombs (which blow everything up), holes in the wall (where pieces can fall out), bonuses which you can throw together (for extra score and lives) and a variety of other things which I, erm, can't quite remember, cluttering everything up. Still, it's actually not too bad at all.

AND FINALLY...

There we have it! As I predicted (and Matt and Jonathan got totally wrong) it took me absolutely blooming ages. And most of that time was spent arguing about what a puzzle game actually is and what qualifies and what doesn't (which is one reason why we don't have a giant list of all the ones ever made - we just couldn't agree what they were!).

Next month - Flight Sims. (Something everyone can agree on.) Hurrah!

Label: Domark
Author: Ernieware
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: Various
Reviewer: Clare Edgeley

Have you ever wanted to rearrange someone's face? Well, here's your chance.

For starters, you can put Reagan's mouth where it ought to be. As for the Iron lady, she's got metal fatigue and gone to pieces.

In Domark's Splitting images (nothing to do with the hit TV series). You've got to piece together parts of famous faces - like one of those sliding block puzzles. The idea sounded awful to us, but then, we wuz wrong. Its fast, addictive and very, very fast.

You start off with a blank screen and waiting behind the scenes are a number of picture squares which make up the portrait. Bring them on to the screen and arrange them in the right order before your time runs out. Sounds easy? Wait till you try it. Apart from being fast there are additional bogus and bonus squares. Some have to be got rid of instantly, like the bombs. Otherwise, someone's carefully constructed head is liable to go up with a bang. Brains all over the place YUK!

In fact the bombs can be doused with the water tap to earn bonus points. Likewise, match the pistol and bullet for a higher score. Don't light the fuel with the match though, or you'll get singed. Push the American flag into the Russian one for extra points. Other objects include a hammer, ice cream and diamonds. Some good, some bad, throw them into other objects and see what happens.

To get rid of the bogus squares, line them up with the sliding hatches in the wall, and chuck them out when the doors open. The squares will then rush round and join the end of the queue to reappear later.

The problems start when the screen is almost full, then it becomes almost impossible to shunt round the squares before the time runs out. Try to complete the bottom of the picture first and move upwards and try not to block off the sliding hatches. Watch out for the cracks in the wall, these act as springs and repel all squares if they are placed head on. Approach from the side and slide the squares into position.

There's a time limit on each screen and they can be fiendishly tight, especially with characters that come later on in the game. Ronnie and Maggie come first - which must be some sort of political statement.

For Ron you have to knock out the Russian flags with the American flags. Then for Maggie you hammer the Labour symbol with the Tory symbol. Dodgy stuff. For each character the objects change, though the bomb is constant throughout.

On hearing the title, Splitting images, I wondered what was in store for me when I loaded up. After the disappointments of Domark's Friday 13th and Friday 13th and View to a Kill I was fully prepared not to like it.

The game however, is very fast, very difficult and very playable.