ZX Joystick: Game Reviews
JAWS
Mazе adventure · Spectrum · Game software · 7/7
After loading, the main menu appears. Press SPACE to choose how you want to play (with a joystick or keyboard), then press ENTER to start the game. A ship launches your capsule (submarine) into the water, and the entire game takes place underwater.
You control the capsule, and your task is to assemble a harpoon so you can kill the shark. The harpoon consists of four parts, each hidden inside one of your enemies.
You have to kill enemies to know whether you have already been here. The ones that blink require special ammunition, which you get by killing ordinary enemies. You can also get SLOW, for moving slowly; !, which lets you break things if you approach a coral or cave; invisibility; and so on. One more thing: every time you load this game from cassette, the items are arranged in the same places, which makes the task easier. Whenever you collect a part, the computer displays CONGRATULATION. The game isn’t bad at all, since it takes up only 32Kb and has no SCREEN$.
If you like maze adventures, give it a try.
CRAZY CARS II
Driving simulation · Spectrum, C-64 · 9/9
Now you’re in CRAZY CARS, and your task is not to race, as in the first game and similar games, but to get from Montre, Colorado, to Denever, Colorado. Then you’ll see the message CONGRATULATION and get a new task. The difficulty is that there are many roads and intersections, so you can end up in another state, such as UTAH, ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, and others.
You drive along the highway, pursued by police cars trying to arrest you.
The game ends if the police catch you or you leave the state. As in the first game, the engine sound is very well done, as is the sound of the police cars.
You have two speeds:
The first is , and the second is [missing]. The maximum speed is 327 miles(?).
In the upper-right corner, the time and mileage to the next stop are displayed, alternating constantly. Letters tell you how close the police cars are. Along the road there are telephone poles, bushes, and posts marking the road’s edge (try not to hit every single one).
You can turn 360 degrees—a full circle—by pressing the brake (back) and the direction in which you want to turn.
The game is excellent, and its only drawback is that the cars and tracks are done in just three colours.
Č.S.
SPITTING IMAGES
Puzzle · Spectrum 48K/128K/+2 · Domark · 10/10
The aim is to assemble pictures from puzzle pieces that you feed onto the screen: Ronald Regan, Margaret Tačer, Merlyn Monro, Ser Clive Sinclair, and other well-known people. Each picture consists of 25 pieces.
Pieces you don’t need at the moment can be thrown out through four openings that keep opening and closing. Of course, the hard part of the game is that obstacles also come along, including a bomb. If you don’t throw it out within 5 seconds, you lose one of your three lives. There’s also a time limit: if you don’t complete the picture in time, you lose a life too. But don’t despair—you can also gain a life (find out how for yourself). If you lose your last life, the computer will wish you GOOD LUCK! in the next game. This is one of the most original and interesting games I’ve played lately, and I hope it will catch your interest.
Č.S.
HUMAN KILLING MACHINE
Fighting · Spectrum · 8/10
Even the title of this game sends a shiver down our spines. The game is reminiscent of Street Fighter, but it’s much better made. You play as the boxer KWON, and your task is to get through five levels.
First level:
ZX Joystick: Game Descriptions
Fragment 2/5.
You are in Moscow, on Red Square, fighting the Russian soldier Igor, who is armed with a rifle (the Russians are fair players, so he only uses the butt of his rifle).
If he hits you with the rifle butt, you lose a lot of energy. The best way to beat this opponent is Down + Fire (a punch to the stomach) or Down + the direction you want to hit (a kick to the leg). You need to hit him three times to eliminate him from the game, while he needs to hit you five times. Now you move on to the second part of this level. Your opponent is a German shepherd (very nicely drawn), white in color. They must have polar German shepherds in Russia too.
When it bites you, you lose a lot of energy. It can jump on you and rear up on its hind legs. Use the same moves as against soldier Igor. You need to calm the dog down four times, and it needs to nip you four times.
Second level:
You are on the streets of Amsterdam. You fight a woman named Maria who loves to jump around and hit you in, well, you know where.
You need to hit her four times, and she needs to calm you down four times. In the second part of the second level, you also fight a woman twice your size, dressed in armor. If she hits you just once, you lose almost all your energy.
Third level:
First you fight a bullfighter, then a bull. The fourth and fifth levels are very similar to the first and second, so I won’t describe them separately.
If you want a good fight with excellent graphics, this game is just for you.
Č.S.
RUNNING MAN
Fighting — Spectrum — 6/6
You’re walking through town when suddenly a dog charges at you. Calm it down with a kick—but look, it’s stubborn. You hit it a few more times and calm it down. Then you jump over a bench and two chasms, and arrive at a hockey game. One player throws a puck at you and hits you with his stick, but that’s not all: the stubborn dog shows up too. Once you’ve calmed them down, the screen starts flashing. Keep moving right and you’ll reach the second part of the first level. Now you have to assemble a puzzle. You’ll have to figure out how to do it yourself, because I struggled with it a lot too.
On the second level, you’re in New York, and there’s that dog again. Calm it down, then collect a brick and some energy, and keep walking peacefully until you come across a 3.5-meter-tall guy with a big club who’s trying to teach you a lesson. Throw the brick in his face a few times and give him a good kicking, and he’s done for. The dog appears again; calm it down, and move on to the puzzle.
Third level: the dog again, then a juggler who throws various objects at you, followed by his dog. Deal with them and move on to the next level. And so it goes, level after level: first a dog, then some idiot, and in the second part of the level, some difficult puzzle. There are five levels. The characters are similar and the graphics are all cut from the same cloth—but they’re poor.
All in all, the game is very badly made, and you’ll quickly get tired of taking out dogs.
Č.S.
PETER PACK RAT
Adventure — Spectrum, C-64 — Firebird — 8/10
You play as a rat (yikes), and your goal is to collect all the items on each level. The game is truly exceptional, with excellent graphics, and owners of 128K machines get great music that accompanies the entire game. The music uses three channels. At the start of the game, you choose between screen scrolling, which is roughly done, and smooth screen transitions.
First level:
You are in a cabin situated on the surrounding telegraph poles. Your task is to collect three items.
You can also move underground. There are tunnels dug by moles, who are now your enemies. Butterflies fly around the first level; when you hit one (you can also shoot, which freezes an enemy for a few seconds), you can fly for a while. Once you’ve collected the items, take them back to your cabin, and then you move on to the next level.
Second level:
ZX Joystick: Game Reviews
Fragment 3/5
You are now underground and have to collect five items. From time to time, you can go outside, where a boxer dog is waiting for you. You’ll come across a spiderweb and a busy spider, as well as underground water. You can go for a little swim, too, but watch out—the crocodile is coming. Once you’ve collected all five items, return to the spot where you started this level and move on to the final level.
Third Level
You are in a large tree, and your task is to collect eight items.
There are holes in the tree that take you to a completely different side when you enter them. When you climb down, a tomcat is waiting for you—perhaps he’s hoping you’ll make up for the shortage of mice. If you hit the owl, you can fly for a while, too. Some fools keep getting in your way, walking up and down along their path.
After this final level, you return to the first level, where there are now many more enemies and items. I think this game, like the good old Jet set willi or perhaps Manic miner, will become a legend among Spectrum games.
Č.S.
JAMES BOND 007 LIVE AND LET DIE
Driving simulation · Spectrum, C-64 · Elite · 8/8
I’m loading the game when an exceptional SCREEN$ appears on the screen.
You drive a boat through a narrow canal when, all of a sudden, some fool ahead of you starts dropping bombs. You can open fire to put a stop to his antics, or shoot down the bombs. There are bunkers along the way that bombard you with bombs and bullets. Rocks jut out of the water, so watch out for them—the same goes for logs, since a collision with either isn’t pleasant. And lest you think the game is too easy, your helicopter often shows up and drops barrels of fuel. Of course, you can never have too much fuel (hm, that BOND equipment).
Before you get this game (if you don’t already have it), get a POKE, because you won’t play it for long before you see the familiar words GAME OVER.
Č.S.
TURBO BOAT SIMULATOR
Driving simulation · Silverbird · 7/7 · Spectrum, C-64
Each level has a set channel for you to drive your boat through. Your task is to collect the packages dropped by your plane. Watch out—it drops bombs, too. Your enemies are helicopters that try to crash into you, and submarines that launch torpedoes at you.
For anyone who finds this game boring and just wants to look through the levels, there’s a trick: wait at the starting position until the plane drops a bomb and some packages. Then hit the bomb and collect a package, and return to the spot where you started the game.
Do this a few times and the computer will move you to the next level. This trick usually doesn’t work if you fail to collect even a single package or don’t hit the bomb. The objective is the same in every level, and the levels are similar, so there’s no need to describe them individually.
The game isn’t so bad if you play it for a while, until something better comes along.
Previous game reviews prepared by:
Čanović Srđan
XII vojvođ. ud. brig. 59
25000 Sombor
REAL GHOSTBUSTERS
Arcade adventure · Spectrum, C-64 · 8/8
The Ghostbusters are back with us. After the film sequel, a computer version appeared, too. The game begins on a building full of ghosts, which you catch using beams. You get from one building to another by walking across logs. At the end, the chief ghost is waiting for you and shoots beams at you. Once you’ve dealt with him, pick up the key and move on to the next level.
Between every two levels, there’s an intermission level where you leave the ghosts in storage. On the second level, you climb ladders, as in INDIANA JONES, and catch ghosts again; at the end, you take care of the chief ghost.
ZX Joystick: Game Reviews
Fragment 4/5
The third level takes place in a cemetery, and everything is the same as in the previous levels. The final, fourth level is the same as the other three, so there is no need to describe it separately. The game is very well made, and I believe it will keep you at your computer for a long time. Two players can play simultaneously. The only drawback is that the levels have to be loaded separately.
S.P.
BUBBLE BOBBLE II
Arcade adventure · 6/8 · Spectrum, C-64
After the excellent first game, a sequel was the logical next step. Once again, you play as a little dinosaur who blows bubbles. Anyone who played the first game may be disappointed, because apart from the new (and more difficult) levels, the game is exactly the same.
Now, a little about the game itself: if you don’t deal with the enemies right at the start of each level, they will later hide in the upper-left and upper-right corners, where you can’t see them. If you still don’t deal with them, another enemy appears—one you can’t kill. It moves from place to place and will follow you until you finish that level. It’s a real shame the programmers didn’t add anything new to make the game more interesting.
S.P.
CASANOVA
Arcade adventure · 7/8 · Spectrum
Here’s a charming and very addictive game in which you play as Casanova, an Italian adventurer and singer armed with a guitar and musical notes. You find yourself in an Italian town full of inhabitants who really don’t like you.
There are girls who throw hearts at you, as well as traders who throw knives, weights, and something that looks like a pot.
You can climb buildings using chains or poles that come out of cauldrons. The goal is to collect all the notes scattered throughout the levels so you can move on to the next one. A bird drops ammunition for you, but only in a certain part of the level. The only drawback is that when you lose a life, you are sent back to the starting location.
S.P.
SPACE RACER
Arcade game · 6/7 · Spectrum
The name means “space race.” You drive some kind of motorcycle that can fly. The track is marked with a dashed line, and there are advertisements along the sides. At the start, you and two opponents are lined up. When you catch up with one of them, you can overtake or shoot them.
Since there are no levels and no time or fuel limits, the game soon becomes monotonous. The game as a whole feels unfinished.
S.P.
CAPTAIN FIZZ
Arcade game · 8/7 · Spectrum
Fans of games like EAGLE'S NEST are sure to enjoy this one. You are in the distant future and control Captain Fizz, whose mission is to destroy enemy stations full of various enemies that shoot at you and drain your precious energy. On each level, you have to destroy all the squares marked with a letter, then find the exit in the form of a hole.
Along the way, you can collect weapons, credits, and ammunition. You can recharge your energy at certain locations; how much energy you can collect depends on how many credits you have. You open doors using cards found throughout the levels, but the card must be the same colour as the door you want to open.
Two players can play simultaneously, each on a separate screen. If you die, you can continue from the level where you died.
S.P.
HIT SQUAD
Arcade game · 7/7 · Spectrum
After loading, a menu appears where you choose what to play with, then select one of the four squad members to control. The levels are very short and simple. On each level, you have to collect a teleport disc, marked with a letter, and go to the teleporter that takes you to the next level.
ZX Joystick: Game Reviews
Items are always in the same place. Along the way, you can collect weapons or extra items that earn you points, while hamburgers restore your energy. You have three lives, and when you finish the game, if you’ve played well, your name is entered on the high-score list.
S.P.
BESTIAL WARRIOR
Arcade adventure · 7/7 · Spectrum
You are a cruel warrior, armed with a pistol, setting off on a wild mission through enemy territory. Birds take away a little energy, while touching snakes and other vermin causes more trouble, as they take away half your energy. You must visit every room and collect the parts of the spacecraft, then return to the beginning of the game.
You can collect one extra life on each level.
At the start of the game, you have three lives, and your ammunition is unlimited. The game is very fast, so shoot at everything that moves, or you’ll soon see the familiar GAME OVER.
The previous game reviews were prepared by:
Siniša Peša
Jovana Popovića 7/A
25000 Sombor
POKE-cakes
Among local users of various games, different cracked versions are in circulation. Sometimes new blocks have been added; other times, only the blocks of the original programs have been altered. So don’t be surprised if you find several POKEs for one game. An inserted POKE may not have the desired effect, or may prevent the program from working correctly. Most of the POKEs given here work with a program that has the same parts, as specifically noted.
PIYAMARAMA
Load the BASIC section, then break into the computer.
Enter the three lines below and run them with RUN 1000. Then play the tape (load the rest of the program).
1000 FOR I=23886 TO 23893:READ A:POKE I,A:
NEXT I
1010 DATA 62,255,50
1020 RANDOMIZE USR 23844The second value in the DATA line is the number of lives. If this doesn’t work, try the following:
Load the BASIC section and break into the computer.
POKE 23828,201
RANDOMIZE USR 23786Press ENTER and load the rest of the program. When loading has finished with OK, enter:
POKE 43883,255:POKE 23828,195:RANDOMIZE USR 23828Press ENTER.
BATMAN
Enter this before RANDOMIZE USR:
POKE 36800,0SABOTEUR II
Load the BASIC section and stop the cassette player. Press NEW and ENTER to erase the section you have just loaded. Enter this short program:
10 CLEAR 25099:LOAD CODE 16384:LOAD CODE:POKE 61340,201:POKE 37122,0:RANDOMIZE USR 25100Run the program with RUN and start the tape. Your time and energy will not decrease during the game.
BATMAN (Jansoft version!)
10 FOR I=65000 TO 65038
20 READ A:POKE I,A:NEXT I
30 DATA 221,33,64,156,17
40 RANDOMIZE USR 65000Run it with RUN and ENTER, then load the rest of the program after the SCREEN$.
TARZAN (Martech)
The following POKE-entry method for immortality works only if the program has six parts, with these lengths in order: 164, 6913, 20000, 20536, 6916, 1704 (check them with a copying program). Load the BASIC section with MERGE and stop the cassette player. Enter:
20 REMThe text after REM means that there should be four spaces after REM. Continue without a line number:
POKE 23757,100Then enter:
20 RESTORE 30:FOR I=23841 TO 23857:READ A:POKE I,A:NEXT I
30 DATA 62,0,50,58,194Run it with RUN 20, then enter CLEAR 24899:RANDOMIZE USR 23760 and load the rest of the program.
You are invincible in the game.
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