Producer: Code Masters
Retail Price: £1.99
Author: Ian Richards

When the Sun's rays were no longer strong enough to heat the earth, Man burrowed deep beneath the ground, harnessing the heat generated by the planet's core to survive. Each successive generation burrowed deeper and deeper to capture what remained of the diminishing energy force, and as they moved core-wards, deadly weapons were left behind to fend off any alien invaders.

After many years in their subterranean prison, the remains of Mankind finally left their dead planet in search of a new home leaving the deadly legacy of weaponry n their wake.

However, it was inevitable that Man would eventually return to his old home.

Overlord Tenz, one of the first people to be born on the new world colonies, is despatched to destroy the defence systems of underworld Earth and make it safe for mankind's eventual return. Tenz travels to Earth in the most modem of fighting craft, carrying a standard photon cannon. The ship also contains one awesome addition - the Nucleonic Transmuter - a device capable of sucking in surrounding raw energy and converting it into pre-programmed forms.

An energy counter at the bottom left of the screen gives a running total of captured energy units. When a unit has been acquired a Transmute option appears on screen, choose this (using the select key) and the ship is equipped with extra manoeuvring speed. Otherwise, the energy unit can be saved urea another s collected and a second transmute option is offered. This adds firepower to the photon cannon, a third equips the ship with missiles, tour energy units supply a Laser, five a for a weapons add-on and six for a shield to protect you from enemy fire and collision.

As Tenz moves into the caverns, the dormant defence system kick into life and attack. Tenz can move his craft up, down, backwards and forwards to avoid these (and the equally deadly contact with tunnel walls). One hit is needed to dispense with enemy craft, and several to destroy a ground emplacement.

COMMENTS

Control keys: defineable: Left, Right, Up, Down, Select, Fire
Joystick: Kempston, Interface 2
Use of colour: black backgrounds and minimal variety elsewhere
Graphics: flickery spaceship, but generally good
Sound: great title tune, average effects
Skill levels: one
Screens: four

Transmuter plays quite well (despite its shoddy appearance), and with a little perseverence it proves to be very compelling. The graphics are fair, there's a lot of detail in the cavern scenes and the screen scrolls well, but your craft flickers horribly. The sound is also well above average - in fact, the tune on the title screen doesn't sound like a Spectrum at all.
BEN

I usually like shoot 'em ups, consequently I enjoyed my first few games of Transmuter - this didn't last long though. The more I progressed, and the more add-ons I collected, the more infuriating it became to lose a life and have to restart. The graphics are fine, but I' m afraid that all that stopping and starting put me off for good.
MIKE

"Why pay more?" Announces the loading screen logo. Indeed, why should you when you can get a perfectly good Nemesis-type at a budget price. The only thing that put me off was the lack of pace (even collecting extra speed does little to quicken the proceedings).
PAUL

Codemasters
£1.99

It's down the tube again and... hang on, haven't I been here before? Yes, of course I have, because this is none other than Scramble scrambled into a slightly new format and bunged out at a budget price.

Nothing wrong with re-doing this golden oldie though, because while the straight space shoot 'em ups have their attractions, there's nothing like flying through caves as well to get the adrenalin flowing.

The secret of Scramble is that you have limited space behind you for deceleration as the screen scrolls ever onward. In crowded areas you may find you have to zap everything, then position yourself for that narrow gap at the end of the tunnel if you're not going to prang your ship on a stalactite.

Transmuter is a bit of a mixed bag though. It begins brilliantly, with music that sounds just like Rob Hubbard's heavy pomp rock. But somehow the game doesn't run quite fast enough to get the real sense of danger that a dedicated scrambler demands. The graphics are okay-ish - imaginatively drawn, but with some irritating sprite flicker.

That said, Transmuter adds a novel feature to its inspiration. You can trade in points for extra features, Such as bombs, lasers, more speed and shields. These are selected with a keypress, as they flash below the playing area. But beware because moving, hitting fire and selecting simultaneously isn't just a handful - it sends you back to the start!

Still, Transmuter is a reasonably addictive budget blaster with a smidgin of strategy. At this price you shouldn't be disappointed.

Label: Code Masters
Price: £1.99
Joystick: various
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: John Gilbert

Far, far in the future, the sun grew old and faint so man had no choice but to burrow into the earth's core in search of heat.

As they went deeper and deeper, they left machines to guard the levels etc, etc and etc. Miss out the next bit about a ship leaving to colonize etc only machines left etc and finally the crux of the matter. Yes, you once again are called to do your duty in the name of the human race, and return to your old planet Earth to destroy the machines your predecessors kindly left for you.

In this horizontal scrolling shoot 'em up you have what is termed a one-off 'total aggression' machine that, as well as having the standard photon cannon, has an interesting device known as a transmuter. This sucks up raw energy and converts it into extra speed or faster bullets. The more ships/tanks you blast, the more chance you have of making your ship more powerful.

This technique, if I am not mistaken, is a 'borrowed' idea that has first surfaced in Thalamus' Delta, albeit in a slightly different form.

I must say I enjoyed Transmuter, although it does have one or two really tedious moments like the long wait from end to start-up again. Also no matter how far you have ventured in, if you get blown up you start again from the very beginning. Not nice. That apart it's a good zapper that doesn't take much brainpower.

Code Masters
£1.99

As the Sun grew old and turned into a red giant the ancient Earth culture retreated into the core of the planet leaving a series of formidable defences in their wake. Aeons later the Overlord of Tenz (that's you!) returns to Earth in a one off total aggression ship to destroy the old defences and clear the way for safe space travel.

Your ship is not only equipped with a standard photon cannon but also a nucleonic Transmuter. This definitely nonstandard weapon sucks in debris from around the ship and converts this into preprogrammed forms. So as the game proceeds and you blast away at the Earth defences your ship gets stronger!

The game is set in the caverns that lead to the Earth's core and are packed with vector graphic nasties such as limpet guns that blast you, tops that float just out of the path of your cannon bolts and generators and pour nasties into your path.

Later on you'll have to face combinations of limpet guns, trundling tanks and generators as the cavern walls narrow. As you blast these these you'll be offered various additions as the Transmuter recycles the debris to produce extra speed, double shot (you fire six bolts instead of three at a time), a laser (instantaneous bolt), shield (absorbs one collision) and a second cannon that appears below the ship but makes it easier to hit. Unfortunately you can only have one of these at once but since the menu cycles through them as you take out nasties you should be able to get what you want.

Complete the first cavern and you'll get a chance at a bonus screen of blasting ships in space (dead easy) and then on to the next cavern that's totally nasty free! The only trouble is that you have to steer your ship through a maze of scrolling, winding caverns where the slightest mistake will cost you a life.

An excellent game that shows that the old Scramble format is still alive and kicking. For only £1.99, what more could you want. Sheer budget brilliance!