PUBLIC HOUSE

Crikeroonie! Poor old Jon. He didn't know what he was letting himself in for when he scribbled those lines about Speccy public domain last month. Now he's got about a billion PD progs teetering dangerously on his desk, all shouting out to be reviewed. Let's join him at the Shed Speccy and rest our hands casually on the red-hot power pack. Ouch!

Demos, eh? As I said last month, with no game to worry about, demos can use the full resources of your Speccy to produce some shockingly good effects. As a rule of thumb, they all have to be loaded in 48K mode (most use fiendish code compressors, y'see). all have the bonus of brilliant music tracks for 128Kers, and all have mind-numbingly lengthy scrollies (with occasionally nasty language - be warned, ye of sensitive dispositions). Well, enough about rules. And thumbs. On with the reviews!

Quinquagesima
By The Lords
Reviewer: Jon Pillar

A three-part demo showing off The Lords' uncontestable sound-chip skills, the music is backed by a couple of funky graphics screens. Nemesis The Warlock (from 2000AD) bounces smoothly up and down the screen, a massive vertical scrolly rolls over a grinning skull, and a wobbly message leaps about over a screen nicked from an old Interceptor title. Impressive stuff, but it doesn't have the silly good-naturedness of The Crazy Demo. Plus, it's 128K only but doesn't seem to like +3's at all. It's good, but it didn't light my fire (as they say). The music's fantabulous though.