Producer: Bug-Byte
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code
Author: J.K.J

It might seem a little late in the day for a major software house like Bug Byte to be releasing a 'Scramble' type game, but that all depends on how good the game is. 'Scramble' has proved a very durable arcade game as it combines those very skills of timing, speed and hand and eye co-ordination which originally made computer arcade games so popular. As our reviewers, generally 'jaded' experts, found, Cavern Fighter is a worthy addition to the shoot em up tradition.

It's a quite classic version with caves, missiles, city, fuel dumps (for fuel and points), defence installation, asteroids and alien fighters. Once a sector is completed, it means that on loss of life you start at the beginning of the sector. The object of course, is to penetrate as deep as you can into the caverns (of Zragg in this case) and destroy the Dictator's lair (and save Watford - for what?) whilst avoiding the automatic missiles and guardians, and without crashing into the zig-zagging walls and ceiling at a reckless speed.

COMMENTS

Control keys: user-definable, requires up/down/thrust/brake/ laser/bomb
Joystick: Kempston, but usable with most via user-definable keys
Keyboard play: very responsive
Colour: very good
Graphics: very good
Sound: excellent
Skill levels: progressive difficulty
Lives: 3
Screens: continuously scrolling - 6 sectors

The loading time on this cassette was so short I thought it must be for the 16K Spectrum. It has all the usual features including asteroids. The game is very fast and fun to play and a good version of 'Scramble'. I stress the word 'version' because in some ways it's different from the arcade original - for instance, it all takes place in the caverns. The graphics are very good and the game is highly addictive to play.

One of the problems with a 'Scramble' type game is the handful of keys required to play it well - so top marks to Bug-Byte for providing user-definable keys. I think this is the most colourful version I have seen for the Spectrum, and certainly one of the most playable. The graphics are good, very fast, large and well detailed and they move very smoothly. The explosions are not what you would call spectacular, but somehow they seem very vicious and realistic. Great sound too. An excellent version and worth buying.

If you haven't got a copy of a Spectrum 'Scramble' type game, then this would be a good buy. The graphics are smooth and colourful, good sound. I couldn't stop playing it is extremely addictive!

The aim of the game is to protect Watford from hostile attack (Why bother? Ed.), and this is done by taking control of a Gamma 14 flight craft and winging your way through long narrow caverns, shotting out the enemy rockets' fuel dumps and destroying meteors.

Tony: This is an incredibly fast game considering the amount going on, but the graphics aren't very appealing, neither is the choice of colour. 5/10

John: It's a bit quick in the early stages, but this is far from a disadvantage. On the contrary, it quickly makes the player more skilful, and better prepared for the later stages. 7/10

Mark: Colour is well used which makes the player's own craft, as well as the assorted aliens, stand out against the background. The graphics are smooth and fast. 8/10

Memory; 16K or 48K
Price: £5.95
Joystick: Kempston

Cavern Fighter, for the 16K Spectrum, is a version of the popular arcade game, Scramble, which is set in the unlikely location of Watford.

Your mission is to fly your spacecraft through a cavern filled with enemy fighters. You must destroy the aliens with your laser gun and hit the fuel tanks with your bombs. Points are scored for hitting aliens, or missiles, and extra fuel is allocated for hitting dumps. If you forget about the fuel dumps you will run out of fuel and crash.

Another way of crashing is to hit the ceiling or floor of the cavern as you go through it. That is all too easily done. The caverns become progressively more difficult as you advance and when you have finished with the missiles of the first phase the aliens, which look like space invaders, get bigger and meaner.

Cavern Fighter is by no means the best version of the scramble-type game on the market. It bears too much resemblance to other games, such as the Melbourne House Penetrator, to be original in either concept or graphics. The screen dispLay is dull and little imagination has been used with the effects which could have been created in the scenario.

Cavern Fighter is available from BugByte and can be obtained from W H Smith and John Menzies retail outlets.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
JOYSTICK: Optional
CATEGORY: Arcade
SUPPLIER: Bug-Byte
PRICE: N/A

This is a terrific rendering of Scramble, one which threatens to leave the other Spectrum versions smouldering on the launch-pad.

You can read all about the other games in the Scramble comparison on page 40, but right here is where the real action is.

Cavern Fighter features a frighteningly narrow cavern which requires constant vigilance if you're to avoid crashing into its twisting walls.

Movement is oh-so-smooth, and ah-so-fast. But you don't need a joystick. You can select your own control keys which means you can have a single key to fire your laser, drop bombs, and slow down.

So you can concentrate on obliterating everything that moves without tying your fingers in knots.

All the usual features are there: rockets, fuel dumps, phizzers, fireballs. Get in there and blast them.