Producer: Destiny
Retail Price: £8.99
Author: Christian Urquhart and Mike Smith

The Abominable Snowman, mysterious subject of Tibetan legend and myth, has been granted the ultimate accolade of a computer game of his own. In this case there is no speculation as to whether the notorious Yeti exists or not: he tramps across the title screen to assure the player of his existence. The object of this game is to catch him.

The Yeti is extremely shy, and the largest part of the quest involves travelling through uncharted territory to find the beast. Beginning in the midst of hostile oriental caverns the search moves on to counter the perils of the snowy landscape. Buddhas, invincible mini-monks, rivers of fire and mystical flying monsters impede your progress: contact with any of these means instant death.

To counter these dangers, the player is armed with the famous Lee Enfield rifle and a limited supply of grenades: extra ammunition and shields are also scattered around the environment. However, the important problem in the punishing Himalayan climate is keeping the hunter's body temperature up. Earthenware pots full of valuable nourishment have been left around the area to help.

As progress is made further into the depths of each of the four levels, the ELt on of a snow mobile becomes available. Miss the entrance to its garage, though, and the journey is continued on foot.

The end of each level brings the hunter to camp, where he can replenish ammunition and grenade supplies and grab the chance to restore his body heat before recommencing the search. Reaching the fourth level sees the Yeti come within the player's grasp. Catch him and the journey is complete. Fail and the Abominable Snowman will remain a mystery...

COMMENTS

Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: the snowy background is a great effect, adding atmosphere and realism to the game
Sound: pathetically feeble

Yeti is just an Exolon rip off! What Christian Urquhart has done is to copy the idea and layout of Hewson's fantastic game completely. The only real differences are the jerky animation and pathetic sound. The graphics look great but they move around the screen so poorly that they soon become annoying. Colour is used well on the fire and some of the nasties, but other objects in the game are all the same colour and become boring after a while. The way the score and amount of ammunition is displayed on screen is also terrible: if you want to quickly check on how many bullets you've got left it's impossible to work out which figure refers to what! if you've already bought Exolon then you've done the right thing because although they look alike, Exolon is ten times better.
NICK

I must admit that the idea of a Yeti hunt in a game is quite novel - well I for one haven't heard of it before. Chasing the Yeti across the frozen wastes of Tibet is fun, especially as the route is filled with many dangers. These include large spikes, gun turrets and a multitude of aliens that whizz around the screen causing a great nuisance. Graphically the game is good, with some nicely drawn and animated obstacles - especially the large Buddha statues that spit lightning bolts at you. My only gripe is that the game is hard to play, and many of my early attempts hardly took me further than the first couple of screens; I feel that this may put some people off very quickly. Okay, the game isn't anything special - basically a shoot and collect 'em up - but it is fun to play.
MARK

Yeti is very reminiscent of Exolon, even down to the effect of some of the explosions. What saves this clone from obscurity is the unusual scenario, cleverly portrayed in some very colourful graphics. The pagodas and pillars of the Tibetan environment are atmospheric, and a lot of the game's appeal stems from the elusive figure of the shambling Yeti, rewarding you with the odd fleeting glimpse before he mysteriously disappears. The gameplay is more difficult than is really necessary at first: nasties come thick and fast and don't ease up when you reach the edge of the screen. If a fireball appears at this point you have no chance of avoiding it; traversing from one screen to another becomes as much a matter of luck as skill. Collision detection is tight, and often clearly ducking a fireball is not enough to save your life (annoying when you only have three). These elements reduce Yeti's initial playability but with such high quality graphics and some compelling gameplay a little persistence should go a long way.
KATI

Destiny
£8.95
Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann

Aha. Now Tibet is certainly original. Can't complain there, I mean, when was the last time you trotted around the Himalayas shooting up monks? Yes, monks, Yeti must be the first overtly anti-religious game ever released on the Speccy. Don't let any vicars, Jehovah's witnesses or American presidential candidates anywhere near it.

Now to the game. Yeti is the first release from Destiny, the latest software house to be founded by Francis Lee, he who put together Beyond and Starlight (now both deceased). It was written by Cybadyne, the programming team mainly known for Xecutor, which popped out at the back end (fnar) of last year through The Edge. That game was a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up with loads of colour. This one, for variety is a horizontal flip screen with loads of colour, rather in the manner of Exolon.

Now that's all very well, but I for one am beginning to get a bit tired of all these shoot 'em ups in the manner of Exolon, and this one - bar the unusual scenario - is very much par for the course. You rush along, shooting at things, avoiding bullets and occasionally jumping on top of platforms and running along the top. True, you're shooting at religious icons rather than Krells from the planet Tharg, but they all move in much the same way. The screens flip rather than scroll, and in the way of these things it's very hard to complete.

Of course its very slickly programmed, and the basic idea of bopping about in eastern climes is a cracking one. I'm just not convinced that after Exolon, Zynaps, Gunrunner, Freddy Hardest, Game Over and God knows what else, this has very muCc new to offer. Still, if you like a shoot 'em up, this is as good and hard as any, and not so impossibly difficult that you'll give up in disgust, chucking cassette case out of window and Speccy in fire. Otherwise. though, it's for converts only.

Label: Destiny
Author: Cybadyne
Price: £8.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Chris Jenkins

I wouldn't say that Yeti is excellent, but it's certainly Exolon. This is the most blatant case of I'wouldn't say it's a rip-off but it's certainly very heavily influenced" " since Exploding Fist and International Karate.

One of the first titles on the new Destiny label, headed by Francis Lee (ex-Beyond, ex-Starlight), Yeti has some bizarre tie-up with Chris Bonington, an expedition to the Himalayas, a huge cash prize, and the famous hairy monster which has been the object of speculation since someone found a tin of Yetiburgers in a monastery in 1922.

The game, though doesn't appear to have much to with the amiable anthropoid.

As you load it up, one word will spring to mind, and that word will be Exolon. The similarities are too staggering to be unintentional. Like Exolon, Yeti is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-'em-up featuring carefully designed backgrounds to eliminate colour clash, an armoured figure with a gun and an over-the-shoulder missile launcher, and a series of obstacles including projectile launchers, pits, bobbing spikes and flying missiles. Like Exolon, you hold the fire button down for more than a moment to launch a missile. Like Exolon, this results in an explosion of particles. Like Exolon, you collect bombs and bullets as you move along. Like Exolon, some of the obstacles are unavoidable and have to demolished. At first glance, even the backgrounds look the same; but you soon realise that instead of science fiction scenery, you're looking at Himalayan hardware. Instead of gun towers, you have prayer temples; instead of missile launchers, smiling Buddhas; instead of space warriors, trappist monks.

As you trudge through the landscape blasting obstacles, ducking under missiles and leaping to pot projectiles, you have to keep an eye on your falling temperature and ammunition levels. As you get towards the end of each level, you'll find a scooter which allows you to go faster; the same sort of effect as the armour which defends you in Exolon, really. Right at the end of each level, there's a shambling Yeti which is the object of the quest. So far as I know, there isn't a Yeti in Exolon, but I may well have missed it).

Personally I feel the only Destiny appropriate for this lot is a slap on the wrists and a short talk from Andrew Hewson. Sure, the game's technically fine, but it's hard to be really enthusiastic about such a slavish imitation.

MACHINES: Spectrum/CBM 64
SUPPLIER: Destiny
PRICE: £8.95
VERSION TESTED: Spectrum

From the land of mountains, ice and snow comes a legend that has intrigued people for ages, stories of a huge hairy beast, a giant mysterious creature whose existence has never been conclusively proved or denied. It's the Abominable Snowman or Yeti.

And so enters Destiny, a new name on the software scene, and programmer Christian Urquhart, and old industry stalwart, with a quest to discover this mythical creature.

Armed with a rifle and grenades - those twin tools of scientific exploration - you set out to hunt and capture the Yeti.

Every now and then you get a tantalising glimpse of the Yeti but he - or she - scampers off before you can do anything about it. It is not until the fourth level of the game that you can actual confront the elusive creature.

Until then you must trek through snow, blizzards and into forbidden territory where outsiders are made to feel decidedly unwelcome. Leading the unwelcoming committee are sullen Buddhas which protect the pathways, flinging death-dealing lightning bolts. Then there are the mad monks who rush straight at you. These must be blasted until they change colour before they die.

Also watch out for spikes.

Don't worry if you don't get the point of them. You soon will! There are also crevasses, hidden beneath the surface, waiting for a real fall guy.

The explorer starts out with 50 rounds of ammunition and 10 grenades, three lives and a body temperature which must not fall too low.

Along the way, he can replenish his ammunition and grenades. There is also a mystical fluid to be found which will restore body temperature. And one of the most useful items to find is the ski-bike. This can really speed up your progress through this frozen landscape.

Shields are also useful while they last. They protect against a lot of nasties, other than craggy rocks and lightning bolts.

Yeti, together with Teladon, are the first two releases from Destiny. Yeti is a very competent game, nicely programmed and very playable, even if it doesn't set the imagination really alight.

Spectrum Cassette: £8.95

FREEZE A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW

Since Europeans began to explore Tibet, they have reported legends of a huge ape-like creature called the Metoh-Kangmi - roughly translated, the filthy abominable snowman. The stories cover a huge area, from the Caucasus to the Himalayas, from the Pamirs, through Mongolia. to the far eastern tip of Russia. In central Asia these creatures are called Mehteh, or Yetis, while tribes in the eastern regions refer to them as Almas. The Yeti has been part of the folklore of the Sherpas of Nepal. the Tibetans, the Bhutanese and Sikkimese for centuries, and their children are brought up on legends of the Yeti in much the same way as English children are warned of the Bogeyman. Yeti - available first on the Spectrum, is by veteran Christian Urquhart.

Many men have attempted to capture the abominable snowman, all have failed, Yeti - capitalising on Chris Bonnington's much-publicised seek-and-communicate expedition - revolves around a modern expedition whose objective is to capture the elusive creature at all costs.

Armed with ten grenades, a rifle containing 50 rounds of ammunition and three lives, you, as the brave explorer, trek across the wild, snowy wastes in search of your quarry. The game begins at base camp, first objective being to survive long enough to reach the end of level 1. Obstacles both animate and inanimate block your path: huge buddhas throw bolts of lighting, mad meandering monks vie with each other to try and kill you, and mystical wonders ceaselessly hinder your journey - until you shoot them. Many obstacles are only passable by destroying them with a grenade, although a careful eye must be kept on the ammunition level. Fortunately supplies are scattered around the playing area, and moving over them restocks your inventory.

STAY FROSTY

There is another hazard to be faced: much of the game is set in mountainous Tibet where frostbite is a real threat . Constant monitoring of your body temperature meter is required, if it drops too low you are turned into a human icicle, although collecting a mystical fluid prevents this from happening.

Crunching through the snow, blasting everything in sight with bullets and grenades proves to be very enjoyable in this blend of shoot-'em-up and pick'em-up played across a series of horizontal flick screens, which often reminds of Exolon. The eponymous Yeti is occasionally glimpsed during the first three levels, but is impossible to catch until the fourth. Only then is the player is given the chance to ensnare it, and prove the legend of the Yeti to be true.