Producer: Richard Wilcox Software
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Richard Wilcox

With the TV series of the same name on our screens Richard Wilcox should be assured good sales of his well promoted and now available game, but of course that still depends on the game itself, and Blue Thunder appears to stand the test with flying colours.

The basic objective is to fly your jetcopter off the deck of a ship, fly across a sea infested with islands, all heavily defended by the enemy, reach a base where many of your men are being held prisoner and rescue them. To do this you must come to rest over the base, shoot out a whirling, rising and falling device which results in a nuclear reactor shooting up out of the ground behind you. This is unstable, so you must destroy it quickly. The reactor is protected by some of the most state of the art hi-tech you've ever seen (wait for this) Photo-electric perimeter shield with Hyper-Phase Lazer deactivated lock externally, and internally and indestructible intermittent ultra-sonic quantum blaster!

What this actually means is that you must shoot away the yellow forced field by hitting the rising blue stripe in it, then edge into the reactor core, wait for a fractional gap between the intermittent ultra-sonic thingie and then bomb the hell out of the moving red dot on the floor of the reactor.

Getting to the enemy base is no picnic. Most of the islands are equipped with heat seeking rocket launchers or gun turrets, and on subsequent levels, not only do these fire more frequently at you, but they are joined by fighter planes, indestructible barrage balloons and a submarine armed with missiles that has a nose like a bloodhound. Top that off with a rapidly declining fuel supply and you have a game which should sort out the men from the boys.

COMMENTS

Control keys: Q/A = up/down, X/V = left/right, C = fire (short), turn 90° (medium), turn 180° (long)
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: very responsive
Colour: very good, even startling
Graphics: excellent
Sound: very good
Skill levels: 5
Lives: 3
Screens: scrolling across approximately 8 times the screen width

The centre piece of Blue Thunder is, of course, the jetcopter. This is a neat piece of graphics; which ever way it is facing - left, right or straight out of the screen, under power it behaves just like a real helicopter, nose down under power, rearing back when braking. This also means that you can fire at a variety of angles, including straight down when facing 'out' of the screen. Getting past the guided rockets is quite an art. An element of luck creeps in because the various installations don't always fire at you as you pass, but they don't follow a standard pattern either, so you never know when it'll happen. Throughout, the graphics are excellent with tons of detail and very smoothly scrolling pixel movement. It's a challenging and maddening game. I recommend it highly.

I timed the review so that I did it after watching an episode of the Blue Thunder TV series - you've had the film, the TV series, now play the game! The graphics are superb, with plenty of colour, and the sound too is realistic - the chopper sound is particularly good. The main problem, in fact, the only problem, is the choice of keys. There is a multi-function fire button which will fire, turn the chopper through 90° and 180° respectively, depending on the length of key press. Spectrum keys are not ideal for this and it tends to make things a little hard, especially when firing over-ambitiously. But once you get used to this idiosyncrasy the game soon grows on you. In fact it's an excellent game.

Marvellous graphics, and good sound, plenty of colour, and action all the way. Totally maddening! The scrolling seascape is very good, but the effect of the unstable reactor appearing suddenly for the first time is like an amazing magic trick - a real effect! Getting in there is a job for experts with perhaps a bare second to manoeuver in, and shoot before the ultra-sonic gun gets you. Good hi-res explosions too. I've seen a few games recently from new companies which have sadly failed the test, but Blue Thunder passes with flying colours and proves itself a major Spectrum game. The idea of a multi-function fire and direction key is a boon once you adjust to the idea as it makes for many less control keys.

GREASED LIGHTNING

Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95
Joystick: Kempston

Your helicopter is poised on the deck of a battleship ready to take off and destroy the nuclear reactor which is endangering life in Blue Thunder for the 48K Spectrum.

You must fly your whirlybird through enemy terrain, attacked by the gun installations on land and sea. Once through that murderous onslaught you have to gain access to the nuclear reactor which is beneath the waves and fire your guns to make it explode. If you are not quick enough you will be destroyed.

The game has a simple appearance but the animated graphics are well-produced and are a major selling-point. The detail is so complete that the helicopter rotor blades seem to increase speed when it is stationary, hovering opposite a target.

The only difficulty a player could experience is completing one mission, let alone several. Your small ammunition, which looks like full stops coming from the helicopter, makes it difficult to judge whether you will hit anything or not.

Blue Thunder is original and entertaining. It can be obtained from Richard Wilcox Software, Foundary Business Systems Ltd, 2 Station Road, Walsall, West Midlands WS7 0JZ.

THE FALKLANDS FACTOR

Shades of the Falklands infamous bomb alley must have been in the programmers' minds recently as a flurry of air-sea battles are bombarding the software shelves.

Hopping aboard HMS Spectrum are Krakatoa from Abbex and Richard Wilcox's Blue Thunder which we played against each other in an explosive head to head.

Both games feature choppers performing a dual mission of defence and rescue over the briny.

The Blue Thunder chopper has the most realistic flight graphics - banking and dipping its nose as it moves forward.

The aim of the game is to blast your way into a nuclear reactor which pops up out of the sea like an electronic sea serpent.

Getting in is relatively easy, but blowing up the radioactive core takes much more skill. Once the possibility of a nuclear blast has been eliminated, you can rescue your comrades held on an adjacent island.

Blue Thunder is only average entertainment. The chopper movement is either too slow or too fast and some of the ground installations showering you with fire cannot be shot.

Far better value for money is Abbex's Krakatoa. This game has so many clever little graphic frills that it is difficult to mention them all.

The basic idea is to protect a tanker being bombarded enemy ships in the bay. A radar scanner enables you see the bandits and sneaking submarines. You'll really need to start bashing your keyboard in an attempt to down those enemy planes and subs.

When the tanker sustains a hit, the crew are thrown into the water and it is your job to let down a rope and winch them up to the safety of the chopper.

This is one of those games where you need about thirty six fingers but, despite this, it's hellishly addictive. The more I played it, the more features I discovered.

Krakatoa from Abbex really silences Wilcox's Blue Thunder and is in the shops now at £5.95.

The aim of Blue Thunder is to steer a jet helicopter across the sea and islands, avoiding all attacks from enemy missiles and barrage balloons, to reach and destroy the nuclear reactor and thus rescue your comrades who are trapped there.

The graphics are very well done. As the helicopter moves, so the landscape scrolls smoothly across the screen. The helicopter movements and changes in direction are equally well-displayed.

The game, however, is unexciting. After a few runs the majority of attacks become predictable and it is possible to reach the nuclear reactor by moving upwards, waiting the appropriate length of time and then flying left. That is a useful facility for those who are trying to eat their lunch, or drink a cup of coffee, or do anything else while playing the game, but for those who require a game to be interesting throughout it is a major disadvantage.

Blue Thunder is produced by Foundry Business Systems Ltd, 2 Station Road, Walsall, West Midlands WS7 0JZ and costs £5.95.

Spectrum 48K
£6.95
Richard Wilcox Software

Nothing to do with the film starring Roy Scheider, or the TV series starring James Farentino; in this program we are a world away from the difficulties of community policing by helicopter. You are better off playing this game with a joystick, than the keyboard, but even then the fire button is given the three functions of 90, 180 degree turns and firing. This can complicate matters. I am also dubious about the claim of incredible perspective graphics.

This is a pretty Choplifter with a nuclear reactor thrown in. First, pilot your whirlybird. Off the VSTOL carrier over the islands, getting shot at. There are five different levels of difficulty. In the higher levels you contend with waves of jet fighters and indestructible red balloons. Only on of the latter at a time - the number never gets as high as 99. You penetrate enemy lines, destroy the nuclear reactor and rescue up to 16 comrades in one trip.

The on-screen store line displays from left to right, reserve helicopters, current score and mission number. A vertical bar on the right of the screen indicates your chopper's fuel level. A challenging game.