Producer: Mirrorsoft
Retail Price: £9.95
Author: Dalali

Biggles and his time twin, Jim are in a spot of bother. Biggles! Time Twin! What's this? It's 1917 - the kind of time you would expect to find Boys Own paper air ace Biggies, but Jim is from today (as in 'Now' ). Well it's the film of course, the game being based on its commercial premise that modern people don't watch WWI air ace films arty more without a spot of weirdness. Back in 1917 the Germans have developed a new type of super-weapon with which they intend to win the war. Up in the eighties, New Yorker Jim discovers his time link to Biggies when he gets warped back to the Flanders battlefield. If you've seen the film then you will know that Biggles and Jim must destroy the awesome sound weapon so that the natural course of history won't be altered.

The game comes in two sections. There's the Timewarp on side one of the cassette which should be completed before continuing on to side two which features a helicopter simulation.

Timewarp is played in three concurrently running sections which must be completed in the correct order before this side of the tape can be finished.

Airborne, Biggles finds himself flying over occupied France in 1917 searching for the secret weapon testing site so that he can photograph its position. However, the enemy are on to him and Biggies must avoid the flack and German planes that attempt to blast him out of the skies. Our hero's plane is equipped with a sturdy machine gun, adequate for destroying the enemy, so long as they don't get him first.

Suddenly, Biggles and Jim, find themselves hurled 69 years into the future and onto the roof tops of London. The twinned time travelling twosome must get the secret code which gains them access to the location of the secret Sound Weapon in the second half of the game. Snipers and patrol guards are positioned all over the place as Biggles and Jim run the gauntlet across the roof tops to safety. Contact with the policemen results in death, although they often ignore you if you keep still or crouch down until they've gone away. In leaping from roof to roof in the quest for the secret code, care must be taken any false moves send our heroes plummeting to their deaths on the London streets below.

The third section in Timewarp sends Biggles somersaulting back to 1917 once more. This time, equipped with a revolver to kill any German guards in his way, he has to fight his way through battle fields to discover the positon of the dreaded testing ground. At the beginning of this section Biggles is given a limited number of grenades but they can be replenished along the way.

At the bottom of the screen three symbols, a plane, an ammunitions dump and a helicopter, indicate damage sustained during the three sections of Timewarp by gradually deteriorating.

Side two of the cassette contains Sound Weapon. It is possible to play this without having finished Timewarp, but it is very difficult to complete the entire mission without the secret password given to Biggles on completion of the first section of the game. Biggles is now piloting a helicopter equipped with the very latest in 20th century technology, except that he's actually flying it over enemy lines in 1917. Using maps and all his skill as a pilot, Biggles must rescue his famed friends, Algy, Bettie and Ginger, locate the testing ground and destroy the Sound Weapon to complete the mission. Points are scored for the right objects collected and how many people Biggles has managed to rescue.

This section is played sitting in the cockpit of the helicopter with a view of the ground below seen through the windscreen. Screen centre is gunsight, with compass points around the outside, showing flying direction. All the controls and instruments you need to successfully fly the chopper are available, but it's easy enough to crash the machine. Biggles must fly to the Allied camp first of all so that he can find out the location of the test site. This is only given in exchange for the correct password obtained on completing Timewarp.

Biggles must battle onwards to destroy the location of this Sound Weapon. There isn't a moment to lose, so it's chocks away and good luck on your mission. The future depends on you.

COMMENTS

Control keys: Z left, X right, P up, L down, SPACE, B, M, N fire
Joystick: Kempton, Cursor, Interface 2
Keyboard play: responsive enough
Use of colour: nothing special
Graphics: uninspired
Sound: title tune and spot effects
Skill levels: one
Screens: three games

I used to be quite a fan of the WE Johns books, and looked forward to redwing the game. Side 1, Timewarp, is quite good, and I enjoyed playing all three games, but I hoped side 2, The Sound Weapon would be better. Unfortunately, it was a case for my reviewers' law; when I want something to be particularly good, it inevitably fails to impress me. Timewarp contains some graphically unadventurous bits, but side two is a lot worse; looking at it as a flight simulator, it is neither realistic or playable, and as a game, it's a bit of a waste of time. If I bought this game, it would be for the three games on side one, which are all quite reasonable, but side two is far less enjoyable.

Wizard Prang! It's finally here and what a disappointment it is. I can't really say that I was looking forward to this one as the whole concept of Biggies has always seemed a little naff to me, but I would have expected a little more depth and playability. The graphics are about average, the characters are poorly detailed and animated and the backgrounds are uninteresting. The sound consists mainly of spot effects although there is a tune when the game ends. I was bored very quickly as there was little going on to keep me interested for any length of time. Not compelling at all.

It seems that Mirrorsoft, trying to make 'the game of the film', have divided up the various components of Biggles in the hope of re-creating a movie story. All this succeeds in doing is losing all continuity that the game could have had. This is most apparent whilst playing Timewarp. Being thrown between three screens at unprecedented moments doesn't add gimmick to the game but seems to distract the player's attention from the fact that all three screens have minimal playability. The flight simulation is one of the most unimaginative seen, with few in-cockpit facilities and badly defined single colour ground objects. It seems unfortunate that Mirrorsoft could not have produced a better quality piece of software from potentially interesting subject matter.

OLDIES UNLIMITED!

What? Spent all your Christmas money already? Well, never fear, the golden oldie himself, PHIL KING, takes you on a tour of the latest budget-price rereleases...

Biggles
Producer: Silverbird
Price: £1.99
Original Rating: 63%

Timed to coincide with the release of the movie the game was hyped to the skies, but sadly the actual game couldn't live up to it back in July 1986.

WWI flying ace Biggles has a 'time twin' living in the 1980s, called Jim. Back in 1917, the Germans have developed an awesome 'sound weapon' to win the war. Jim is 'warped' back in time to 1917 in order to help Biggles destroy the sound weapon.

Biggles consists of two separate games. The first has three sections, beginning with Biggles flying over enemy territory. The next section sees him and Jim warped back to the 1980s, running across London rooftops. The final section has them fighting German guards back in 1917. The other game, on the flip side of the tape, is essentially a flight simulator with the added objective of rescuing Biggles' friends.

Although disappointing at the time, Biggles now represents a big game for just two quid.

Mirrorsoft
£9.95

Time to starch those upper lips and start bashing the Hun and... ZZZZAPP! Cripes - time travel! I say - this just isn't cricket! You seriously expect Biggies to battle it out with this... this colonial type fast food jockey by his side?

Sorry, but that's just what they do expect of Biggies on the big screen and in this, the inevitable tie-in. So chocks away with the Spectrum and let's see what's cooking.

First, it's aerial combat. Here you have to take the crate up over enemy lines and go in search of the secret weapon. You get a side-on view of the old bus as the Fokkers throw everything they've got at you, but Biggles can duck and dive, hold back and accelerate, blast away with his machine gun by pumping away at the fire button or drop a bomb by holding it down. Phew! This isn't the smoothest alternative to two fire buttons though and often leads to mistakes and... RRRRIIPPPP!

Dash it all, there it goes again. Every time you're in mortal danger you flash through time like a watch with a wonky main spring! Now it's over the battlefield - and under it when you dive down the ladders into the caverns. If Biggles wasn't a monochrome sprite he might well be wearing a Green Beret for this section as he braves the machine gun fire. You'll need your grenades to clean out machine gun nests - because nobody likes a dirty machine gun nest - and you can re-arm in the caves. You just need to take potshots at Jerry and dodge and... WHOOOSHHH!

Oh dammit, not again! Now it's 1986 and the London skyline and here's that pesky American. I think I even preferred Flanders Field to this. The idea is to leap from roof to roof dodging the SAS men. Luckily they must have their balaclavas over their eyes since whenever a character ducks down he becomes as good as invisible. By switching between Biggles and Jim it's possible to draw their fire and dash to safety and... FFLASHHH!

So it continues until each section of the game has been completed, in the correct order. Do that before losing all of your strength in any one section and you'll get the code to help you through the second part of the game.

Move to side two and it's a different programmer, different game. This time it's a helicopter flight simulator - and if you want to know what a helicopter is doing in 1917, would you believe it fell through a hole in time! No, thought not!

There's lots to keep you occupied during this joyride which adds a strong strategic element. You've got to pick up a variety of objects to help you on your way and remember not to neglect your friends and allies. Algy, Ginge and Bertie are all ready to climb onto your chopper. Then there's Marie... What? Good old Biggles and a woman? Don't worry! He's only got to deliver her to safety in a convent before he can start bashing the Boche.

Eventually you'll reach the secret weapon and then you have to hope that you've got the right people on board and the right equipment. Destroy that and it's back home in time for tea and a crumpet in front of the fire. Wizard wheeze, what?

No, sadly not that wizard - more Sorcerers Apprentice. Biggles it maybe - but for me it never really gets airborne.

Label: Mirrorsoft
Price: £9.95
Memory: 48L/128K
Joystick: Various
Reviewer: Clare Edgeley

Biggles - bi-planes, caves and secret weapons, Capt W E Johns could have coped with. But a time warp? Biggles in the 1980s? Helicopters in 1917?

W E Johns, the author of the Biggles books, is probably turning in his grave right now.

Biggles the game, like Biggles the movie is a curious concoction of characters and objects all in the wrong time zones. The bizzare plot hinges on a 'hole' in time which unites Biggles with his time-twin, Jim Ferguson. The time tunnel idea functions as a neat link between a number of separate games between which the play flips quite unexpectedly, every time you are killed.

You take the role of Jim, rather than Biggles. He's young, American and definitely from the 1980s. One day, without warning, his Spectrum goes Whooosh! and turns into a Sopwith Camel high above a WW1 battlefield.

Taca-taca-taca-tac. Bullets stream out as Biggle's arch enemy the evil Erich von Stalhein closes in for the kill. A dog fight ensues, the two bi-planes weave about in an in an almost convincing manner. Anti-aircraft shells pumped from tanks below are surprisingly accurate.

Suddenly you're hit. Whooosh! That familiar sinking feeling - the time tunnel again - and you end up in some caves fighting German footsoldiers. It's all very confusing.

This second arcade game gets underway with you trying to make it to the test site of the enemy's secret weapon. The screen scrolls and your stick-like character trots along firing as he goes. Repeater fire in 1917? Surely not.

Grenades can be lobbed, from a discrete distance at enemy pillboxes, silencing their deadly fire. Get the distance wrong and you'll waste your fire.

The enemy are only intelligent-ish. Once you start running forward, they tend to follow, but stand still and they'll mill around, ignoring you completely. If you get killed then it will be by accident and a stray bullet.

You can't last forever, and soon you'll walk into a bullet when Whiz! Bang! you're deposited with Biggles on a London rooftop in 1986. This is the third arcade game and the only one which leaves you weaponless. Here some nifty toe work is needed if you're to guide the dynamic duo to the secret code which enables you to play the final game, a kind of fight simulation on the other side of the cassette.

There is an aim to each of the four games and they have to be completed in order if you're to get that secret code. It's very difficult because just as you feel you're getting somewhere, you're thrown off-course by a time warp. Three symbols, one for each game, lie at the bottom of the screen and disintegrate each time you're killed. The game ends when one disintegrates entirely.

By that time you will have visited the three battle areas several times.

Although the background is clearly depicted the graphics tend to be a little scrappy but the games play well and smoothly and even the Spectrum Beep manages to sound like gunfire.

It's Side Two of the cassette, the final part of your quest, that's the surprise - a neat but simple helicopter flight simulation with an arcade twist. The controls are simple - up, down, left, right, take and drop. The graphics are fairly comprehensive and there is a range of instruments which guide you when landing and taking off.

You can toggle between two maps - I found the radar map which shows enemy outposts and the positions of landing pads the most useful. Flying at an altitude of 500 feet, set a course for your first drop - the allied camp. There you can choose what objects and which of Biggles' mates you're going to take with you. The secret weapon can only be destroyed if you have the right combination. Marie, a secret agent must be found and picked up to guide you to the next location.

The graphics are excellent. When you put the nose of the aircraft down the objects on the ground become recognisable as people, tanks, trees etc. They don't get larger as your altitude decreases, though, so you have to depend on your instruments. When you land, you'll be told if there is anything there for you to take. If not, take off and try elsewhere.

Biggles has something for everyone. For £9.95 you get three arcade games and a pretty good flight simulator. If the graphics are on the simplistic side, the play itself is often very challenging.

The link between the first three sections is unusual and the constant changes of scenery add to the difficulty.

BIGGLES COMES UNSTUCK IN TIME IN THE LATEST BARNSTORMER FROM MIRRORSOFT.

Mirrorsoft
£9.95

Biggles in the Air, Biggles in London. Biggles on the Battlefield, Biggles all over the place. In the film, Biggles gets caught up in a timewarp that sends him flying backwards and forwards across time as he attempts to find and destroy the secret Sound Weapon with the aid of Jim, his 'time twin' from 1986.

The computer game takes the same plot and uses the timewarp device to construct a four part game based on the different times and locations that Biggles finds himself in during the course of the film.

Side one of the game tape contains the Timewarp game. This is made up of three related sequences (Air, London, and Battlefield, as above). The sequences have to be completed in the correct order, which is made a little bit tricky because of the timewarp that can snatch him out of one sequence at any moment and drop him into another one. so you'll have to plan carefully to make sure that you get them finished in the right order.

In the first, Biggles in the Air, you control Biggles' biplane as he flies over enemy lines trying to find and photograph their secret weapon. On the ground below there are anti-aircraft guns that are trying to blast you out of the sky, and weapon dumps that can supply you with bombs. Up in the air with you are enemy aircraft ready to shoot you down unless you can duck and dive past them or shoot them down yourself. Your plane moves up/down, back and forth over a scrolling landscape, and you need to react quickly to avoid the enemy firepower. Like all the parts of the Timewarp game this is a simple game, but one which is enjoyable, and tricky enough to offer a challenge.

The Battlefield section is a bit like a cut-down version of Imagine's Green Beret. You control Biggles as he runs across a battlefield, dodging and shooting his way past enemy soldiers as he tries to reach the weapon's test site. Though this part of the game lacks the detailed graphics of Green Beret, I actually found this version more playable. It's not quite as fast as the Imagine version, and there are fewer soldiers pouring onto the screen and whereas I never managed to last more than a few seconds in Green Beret, in this game I felt that I had a fighting chance of getting through if I could just go back and have a few more tries.

In the London sequence Biggles and Jim have to leap across the rooftops to reach the timewarp and get back to 1917. You control the figures of both characters, and as well as getting them to jump the gaps between buildings have also got to get them past the rooftop patrols and snipers who are situated in other buildings taking potshots at the two daring chums. Again, it's a simple game but still playable enough to keep you working at it.

Side two of the tape is the final adventure in which you fly Biggles over enemy lines in a hi-tech helicopter as you set out to finally destroy the Sound Weapon. Along the way you can pick up equipment and some of Biggles' pals, including Marie the resistance fighter who can help you locate the test site.

This game is a sort of cross between a flight simulator and wargame. As you pilot the helicopter over the enemy ground your cockpit controls offer two map displays showing the locations held by the enemy and those that are being held (singlehandedly of course) by some of Biggles' chums.

I normally find flight simulations a bit boring - all that watching of dials, worrying about altitude, airspeed, and tying fifteen fingers in knots just never seems like much fun - but the programmers have kept things simple here, and put the emphasis on playability and dropping bombs on the enemy, which is more my kind of thing.

Games based on films and TV series have, deservedly on the whole, gotten a lot of bad reviews and I wasn't expecting all that much from this one, but Mirrorsoft have come up with one of the better tie-in games. Biggles comes through again!