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Once again, acornelectron.co.uk presents Five Games Five Minutes.
In LEMMING SYNDROME, you control an inflatable life-raft in a river.
The world's stupidest people are out on a sight-seeing expedition...
...in the area, and keep falling through an overhead bridge.
The idea is to try to position the life-raft...
...so that they fall into it.
When they do, they bounce, meaning you need to get the raft...
...into yet another position - and another...
...to safely guide them across the river to safety.
As the game continues, the number of idiots...
...ploughing into the river is multiplied.
And the player requires a lot of dexterity...
...to complete a safe crossing for everyone.
There are two different 'modes' in this game.
The Proportional mode, and the Absolute mode.
Proportional mode allows you to move the raft left and right...
Absolute mode allows you to tap one of three keys...
...to move the raft to a particular position.
The game is so fast that Proportional mode is rubbish...
...and Absolute mode is the only way to build a high score.
Although this game looks quite fun, it's actually quite dull to play.
And certainly one or two goes on it are enough for a lifetime.
CYBORG WARRIORS
It's what many Acorn Electron owners were waiting for!
A sideways-scrolling shoot-'em-up with a two-player co-operative mode...
...and levels with a big boss to defeat at the end.
There are only a few true two-player games on the Electron...
...so, by default, this immediately counts as one of the best.
You and a friend do battle across numerous different terrains...
...with a bunch of arcade nasties, blasting them out of the sky...
...with either the standard weapon...
...or one of the power-up weapons you can collect en route.
The graphics in this program are gorgeous...
It's hard to believe that you're playing CYBORG WARRIORS...
...in just 32K of RAM.
The learning curve, if you do go solo though...
...is steep, with one false move putting paid to your dreams...
...of seeing what's around the next corner.
Things are slightly improved if your friend helps you out...
...as you then have double firepower...
...without any increase in difficulty.
What's great about this game?
Everything!
TARZAN BOY is a small, but quite tough, jungle arcade game.
It gives you five lives to conquer four screens...
...and it starts with a tantalising slideshow of the screens...
...that await you.
You can leap right into this game...
...without reading any instructions at all.
The action is very smooth, and everything is very colourful...
...and inviting.
The expanding and retracting lifts are more of a problem...
...than they first appear.
If they retract to nothingness, you will fall through them.
The first screen concentrates on simple aerobics...
...and clearing it is not much of a problem.
The second screen here is much more tricky.
Not only does this one introduce waterfalls and logs...
...it also calls for move-combinations that have to be learned by heart.
It's quite addictive and if you die...
...you do return to the screen, thinking...
..."Right, I know what I did wrong last time!"
Subsequent screens ramp up the difficulty levels...
...to such an extent that few people will ever conquer all.
Romik Software's games are usually pants.
But WEETABIX VS. THE TITCHIES is a refreshing change.
Originally it was given away with the cereal of the same name...
This game puts you in charge of a Weetabix character named Dunk.
Dunk can move left and right to pick up a rocket...
...and then you need to position him, to throw it...
...towards an army of space invaders above his head.
If you're underneath an invader, known as a Titchy,...
...when it drops a bullet, you can either press SPACE...
...to operate a shield to protect Dunk.
Or, if you don't, the shield will be operated automatically.
The difference is that if the shield is FORCED into operation...
...it drains Dunk's Neet Weet Energy.
This energy is also drained as the game continues.
This game will not hold your attention for long.
Although it does get faster...
...it never provides much of a challenge...
...even if you choose one of the harder difficulty levels.
I think most people will be reaching for the BREAK key...
...within the first five minutes.
Aliens have stolen a disk full of Egghead's favourite computer games.
Yes, it might be a lousy plotline...
...but it actually disguises a great game.
It's noteable, mostly, for the amazing animation.
Eight separate frames animate the central character, Egghead...
...whom you control. And, as for the rest of the action...
...it's as smooth as a baby's behind.
All the action is done in glorious monochrome...
...and the jumping facility has to be seen to be believed.
I'm not too sure about the palette changes...
...when you move from room to room.
This is because the red screens can be difficult to see...
...against a black background.
It's also irritating how Egghead can sometimes...
...be killed several times in quick succession.
This is particularly important because, in EGGHEAD IN SPACE,...
...you only have five lives.
And not an energy bar, as you do in other types...
...of games of this format.
However, these quibbles aside, this is a brilliant game...
...and definitely worth playing.