Producer: PSS
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code

Blade Alley is a 3D shoot 'em up with six screens which uses quite simple graphic devices to create the sense of high-speed movement through trenches, over desert plains and so on. The object of the game is to climb aboard your ion driven interceptor and then shoot out of the sky a variety of enemy craft, saucers, tie fighters and space hoppers as well as asteroids.

The 3D effect is created in three different ways. First of all, enemy craft grow bigger as they approach going through what looks like six frames of increasing size, the second device is that everything casts a shadow on the ground, which also grows bigger with approach, as well as defining the apparent height of the craft above the ground. The third method is that the landscape is created with alternate bars of flashing red and mauve, which give the impression of movement.

In all the screens, your craft is seen at the foreground, facing out into the screen. Movement is in eight directions with fire possible while moving. In the first screen you plunge into the trench and are assaulted by tie fighters and saucers. The second is fought out over a plain with hoppers and saucers. The third represents your craft flying between two layers of some giant space station. In the fourth you are over a plain with mountains in the background with all four hazards. The fifth screen takes place in outer space without shadows to help you judge height, and the sixth is in a bottomless trench, again without the help of shadows. Moving from screen to screen is accomplished by shooting down the indicated number of saucers, the indication appearing at the bottom of the screen.

COMMENTS

Control keys: top row=up, third row=down, Q to T=left, Y to P= right, bottom row=fire
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: responsive, and reasonably laid out
Use of colour: good
Graphics: very good, with effective 3D on several levels
Sound: continuous, good
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 4
Screens: 6
Features: Currah Microspeech compatible

Blade Alley is a convincing 3D action game which takes some of the themes of Zaxxon like the shadow on the ground which gives you an idea of height. Depth is also enhanced by you seemingly being placed on a hill over which the approaching enemy craft appear as they hurtle towards you. The aliens are varied and with a fair amount of detail. The game is playable, quite hard, especially as being a realistic 3D it's difficult to judge the height of enemy craft. The explosions are fairly realistic although not very detailed and they are short lived. The hoppers cope with their bouncing action exceptionally well, and I like the way they are animated. Blade Alley is fun to play - I think the scenery could be improved upon instead of just having the changing colours of the ground, and this would add to the fun. Otherwise it's quite an addictive game with a fair amount of action.

Blade Alley is a fantastic 3D arcade type game. In my opinion, this is the best ever game from P.S.S., and definitely one of the best arcade games I have seen over the past few months. Shooting down the attackers involves getting your ship at the same height as them, and this is achieved by gauging the distance between yourself and your shadow on the ground, relative to the attackers. The space hoppers are excellent and the graphics generally are very clever with just the right amount of colour usage to create pseudo scenery like the walls and plains. Very addictive and fun to play.

The title screen during loading is a very accurate representation of the inlay cover and in many respects the actual game doesn't disappoint either. I thought the effect of 'your' forward movement was only half successful, and the main feeling is that you are stationary in a trench with the enemy dashing up on you. My other niggle is that once into the demo, you can't break out, and each screen is demoed until the fighter is hit by an enemy or an asteroid, which can sometimes take quite a while. But in playing, Blade Alley is action packed and fun. A lot of its involvement is due to the difficulty of learning the knack in judging correct height to hit the enemy, and I think most players are going to find it very addictive.

Use of Computer: 82%
Graphics: 87%
Playability: 86%
Getting Started: 81%
Addictive Qualities: 89%
Value for Money: 86%
Overall: 85%

Blade Alley is a 3D shoot em up a sort of 'Buck Rogers' game. The object of the game is basically to shoot anything that moves and if it doesn't move shoot it anyway. Strangely enough, though, despite it getting a good rating in the review it has never been very popular on the hotline which is normally a reflection of how good a game is

I didn't see Blade Alley when it was first released (we weren't CRASH reviewers at that time) but looking at it now I've decided that I don't really like it. I think it's got something to do with the annoying tune and the keyboard layout that seems to have your hands tied up in knots. The 3D effect is quite good but it's not a patch on the newer 3D games like Starstrike, Darkstar etc.
BS

Of all the early 3D games think that Blade Alley was the best. Though I don't think it would rate highly nowadays for its time it was marvellous. The graphics while good are a trifle boring when compared with the likes of Knightlore and Starstrike but they worked; better to have simple 3D graphics with few attribute problems than pretty things which just end up as a flashing blob at one end of the screen. The sound was quite good and with the addition of the Currah Micro-speech the sound was even better. The hardest thing to do on Blade Alley was lining your ship up with the enemies to shoot them but after you mastered this there wasn't a lot to the game. I quite liked Blade Alley but it's very dated now.
RC

(Ben) I would lower 'Use of computer' down to 70 because the keys are so hard to use. 'Graphics' down to about 77 and 'Playability' down 6% to 80. All the other ratings I would take down about 10 to the early seventies or late sixties.

(Rob) As I've said the game is a bit dated now so all the ratings except maybe 'Playability' should go down by 10 to 20%. 'Playability' I would probably push up by a couple of percent to somewhere around the 89 region because it is very playable for a while.

Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95
Joystick: Kempston

Star Wars appears to have been the main inspiration behind Blade Alley, in which you must fly your ion-driven interceptor along a defensive trench while avoiding or firing at the enemy craft hurtling towards you.

The three-dimensional effects and perspective of the game are realistic, with shadows under each craft adding that extra touch of sophistication, and the player's fighter vessel handles well on either the keyboard or joystick.

You have three lives to enable you to notch a score which might take you from the rank of space cadet to leader and eventually admiral.

The enemy craft prove difficult to hit and although it is possible to stay in the game by weaving your way between them, achieving an impressive score is a laborious and possibly discouraging task.

The game offers six screens, with varying backgrounds and additional hazards such as hopping aliens to increase the player's difficulties.

Blade Alley is produced by PSS, Coventry.

BLADERS OF THE LOST TRENCH

MAKER: PSS
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £5.95

Another day, another trench. Settling into the Interceptor's cockpit you glance confidently around. The Kempston looks somewhat incongruous sellotaped to the flight deck but you clasp it anyway. Suddenly a roar of anger fills the launch bay and your Ion Drives begin to bleed. Ahead in the valley wait the Ties and the Saucers...

So begins a commendable but flawed attempt to rewrite Buck Rogers and the Planet of Doom. Flawed? 'Fraid so. There's a couple of niggling game details which persistently spoil the action. F'rinstance, while you and the enemy scud smoothly across the screen blasting away at each other the scrolling backdrop looks decidedly hesitant. It doesn't seem to know where it's going. The Photon Disruptors are also suspect - a successful shot seems to depend more on the relative size of the two conflicting ships rather than any real space-jock accuracy. Try as you might, nothing is ever picked off on the horizon. Killer Kane, Buck Rogers' nemesis, best summed it all up with that celebrated line: "There's nowt in them pants save radishes!" The media clearly owe him great debt.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys, Kemp
FROM: PSS, £5.95

At last! Buck Rogers hits the Spectrum. This is a version of the game in which you guide a spacecraft as it hurtles through a corridor battling a succession of alien attackers.

The game's interest stems from the 3D view you are given, with the enemy looming larger as they approach. Considering the Spectrum's limitations, this is done pretty impressively. Your craft moves smoothly as it swerves from side to side, and its height along with those of the alien ships is shown convincingly by the use of shadows.

But the depiction of the corridor walls is not nearly so impressive as in versions on more powerful machines. The bands which make up the walls simply flash alternately blue and magenta and it takes some effort to imagine that you really are rushing forward.

That aside, the 3D effect is among the best going on the Spectrum. The perspective has been worked out well - for example, to destroy aliens you must not only get in line with them but also move your craft to the same height, using the shadows as a guide. You then take a quick shot before swooping away to avoid a fatal collision.

This takes considerable practice, and it's just as well, because that's about all there is to the game. The enemy attack one at a time and it's merely a question of shooting as many as possible.

Eventually, this takes you on to a new screen, but although the background changes in each of the six different screens of action, the actual game and tactics remain much the same. You may find that it will not retain your interest for very long.