Producer: Mastertronic
Retail Price: £2.99
Author: Binary Design

What noise do bees make when they fly backwards? Zub, zub. And coincidently, Zub just happens to be the name of MASTERTRONIC's latest release on their MAD label, which, strangely enough, is nothing to do with bees. Originally titled Zob, the name was changed after someone pointed out that Zob is in fact a rather rude word in French.

Zub is a small planet in the Zub galaxy. It is populated by Zubs who fight wars with Zubs from other planets. Right now Zub is in a bit of a pickle. Some nasty thieving Zub has walked off with the valuable Green Eyeball of Zub. It is your job as Zub Private, Third Class, in the glorious army of Zub1 to go and get it back.

In the game the player controls the hero, called originally enough, Zub. Zubs are genetically created creatures who's sole task in life is to fight. This particular Zub happens to be a coward and will need your coaxing to get him through his mission.

You must guide Zub around the planets in search for the Green Eyeball. There is a teleport station located in orbit above each of the planets in the system. Zub has to use small floating platforms in order to get up into the planet's atmosphere. These must be jumped on by Zub and then moved so that he can jump to the next platform and so on until he reaches the teleport station. From the station he can travel to other planets in the system. A chart to the right of the main screen shows Zub's progress towards each teleport station.

Each planet has its own security droids who are fairly keen to stop Zub making any progress. Some of these Droids are relatively harmless and will only push Zub off his platform if they touch him. However, on some of the planets there are armed droids and these will do far more damage to Zub. Zub must shoot each alien as it progresses down for the top of the screen towards him. If shot the droid will flee back to the top of the screen and start its progress downwards again. The position of each nasty is shown on the same map showing Zub's progress.

A picture of zub in his space suit shows how much energy he has left. As his energy depletes his internal skeleton is gradually revealed until he collapses in a heap of dried bones when all his life force has been sapped away.

There are five skill levels in the game and the player gets to choose which level to play at the beginning of the game. These levels range from Easy, Peasy to Aaaargh (probably quite hard!)

COMMENTS

Control keys: definable
Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Interface 2
Keyboard play: hard to get the hang of at first
Use of colour: restrained
Graphics: brilliant title screen, simple in the game
Sound: the odd beep on the 48K. Played on the Spectrum Plus 2 is far more interesting aurally
Skill levels: five
Screens: ten three by three arenas

I was expecting yet another boring old arcade adventure while this loaded up, so my eyes bulged a little when I first saw the two title screens. After my initial shock had passed I went on to play the game, unfortunately it didn't really live up to the great attract mode but it is a good bit of mindless arcade action all the same. Graphically, there is little variation from level to level. The sound is dull although the 128K version is admittedly a lot better. On the whole I really like this, OK perhaps it isn't the best presented of games but it plays very well.

There's very little in the way of originality these days so it's pleasing to see something like Zub which doesn't bring back memories of other tried and tested formats. Zub, the game, is just about as much fun as the title screen which has to be one of the best I've seen in ages - especially the parody on the Bond films. On the 128 the music is excellent with a really boppy tune that plays throughout. The game itself is great stuff and if you don't know what to do with your next three quid then Zub is a must!

The presentation in Zub is spectacular to say the least. The 007 bit at the beginning of the game is very well done, and the menu screen and the 128 versions's sound are extremely well designed. But the game I found quite boring to play, although graphically it is very pleasing and smoothly animated. The game is a very basic platform game, that gets very laborious after your first game. I found the game very easy to play, but too simple for any serious game. Zub is a decent enough game for a budget price, but wouldn't be in my tape recorder very long.

Mastertronic
£2.99

Far away, on the planet ZUB 1 in the star system ZUB, a humble Private Third Class named Zub is summoned into the office of his commanding officer, Sergeant ZUB. There he receives his orders, direct from King ZUB, to venture across the ancient interplanetary teleport system to ZUB 10 and reclaim the priceless (and nicked) Golden Eyeball of ZUB. Sounds tricky.

And it is. Even the computer doesn't give him much of a chance. In fact it goes so far as to tell you that 'Probability of completing mission = 0.0%'. It's great to have that sort of moral support just as you're setting out to almost certain doom.

As the put-upon Private, it's your job to negotiate the distances between planets via a network of widely spaced platforms. These can be guided across several screens-worth of playing area as you try and find the next platform to jump on. Meanwhile a standard selection of nasties are after you, which calls for a lot of zapping and ducking about. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sounds as though it could have been released in 1982, to be honest.

And I'll admit, ZUB's no megagame. The graphics don't exactly grab you by the handlebars. Sound is non-existent, the scrolling is smooth, but nothing special. And yes, I did mention platforms. But ZUB is not just another Jet Set Dynamite Dan On The Run rip-off. In fact, it's surprisingly addictive.

Unusually (for what's basically an arcade game, if not a very subtle one), it's played more easily on the keyboard. There are five skill levels, from ludicrously easy to viciously hard.

But what really sets this game apart is its humour. I mean, let's face it. How many games are there that try to be funny? How many actually raise a laff? But the ungainly Zub, lurching fearlessly across the and zubscape to his entirely pointless demise, is sure to bring a smile to even the most jaded of gamesters faces. The inlay notes are even wackier. And it's only two quid. ZUB is everything a budget game should be - unpretentious, great fun to play and worth the dosh!

Label: Mastertronic
Author: Binary Design
Price: £2.99
Joystick: various
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Graham Taylor

Zub is an unusual name for a game. Zub is unusual. Zub is the most astoundingly addictive game I've played this year. Zub has the second best soundtrack on the 128K+2 so far Zub costs £2.99.

Beyond mere the addiction - the entire SU team was obsessed by the damn thing.

People queued up to play it, work stopped, memos were issued there was talk of locking it away.

It's fantastically amazing. Consider this a recommendation.

Try to play it on a 128K if you possibly can. It features all kinds of music, sonic noises and crazed explosions.

Zub starts in the way it means to go on. The opening screen is a mad title page with all sorts of ridiculous credits, next up is an insane control panel. Each panel scrolls around and around like a computer out of control, read it carefully and you'll find crazy error messages.

The game. There is you. And there is a thing. Sort of silly looking with long gangly limbs and a fearful expression.

The sum total of the plot of the game is as follows: you try to get from down (a planet surface) to up (where you get picked up by a tractor beam and sent to the next planet). Getting up there is simple (theoretically). Jump up to a platform then 'ride' that platform until you find another one within jumping distance, and jump one step higher up. Then do it again.

Does it sound easy? Hah.

Wrong. There's this thing, this sort of metallic mouth that sometimes sweeps down and knocks you off your perch. The higher you climb the further you can fail. You spend a lot of time falling in this game. The metallic mouth thing starts to get very irritating There is some defence. You, Zub have a rather puny laser. If you manage to hit the mouth thing it goes away for a while. You probably won't hit it though.

That's it. You keep trying to climb up using the platforms and you keep falling. Just when you think you have finally cracked it you fall a very, very long distance. The point is you get better. Gradually you learn some sort of technique and finally after about fifty times I got through the first level - playing it on 'Easy peasy' (on Level 4 it's. 'I would say' impossible. It was a pretty dramatic moment I can tell you. The next level features a different annoying alien (a jellyfish - see I told you I really did it) and in between is a sort of bonus extra energy section. Basically it's more of the same but who cares? Zub is a vital purchase.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48/128
SUPPLIER: Mastertronic MAD
PRICE: £2.99

This is one of the most frustrating games that I have EVER played. You could have travelled up fifteen platforms when along comes a security droid and you get knocked back to where you started from or quite a few platforms down at least.

It does not take long to get back up, but no sooner are you back up there when the same thing happens again, and again...

The idea of the game is to travel from Zub 1 to Zub 10, steal the green eyeball of Zub and return with it to Zub 1.

To travel between Zubs 1 to 10 you have to negotiate the tricky platform climbing stage.

At the top you can use the teleport system which is a bit out of date. Each planet has three teleporters so you may end up travel back a bit.

This may not be the best to come from Binary Design - 180 is their best to date - but it is well worth buying.