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TEN YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES

ACCORDING to Smiffy, a character in 1994, a new game for the Spectrum, George Orwell chose correctly with his Big Brother theory but had the year wrong - it should have been 1994.

Apart from that there is nothing remotely interesting or startling in the game. It looks as if manufacturer Visions has pumped on the Manic Miner bandwagon. Smiffy has to climb a structure of platforms which are being bombarded continually by alien creatures. He has to climb through the nightmare world and attack the central computer which, in the best Tronic traditions, is holding the world in its metallic grasp. Switching off the computer will win the game.

The screen is filled with a series of exotic blips and blobs which could be anything. If the scenario is a nightmare, the instructions are worse, as you have to grope round the keyboard to find which keys to press.

The high score table and paragraph giving details of the game may be futuristic in style but they are also illegible. The 'computer-style' characters are too heavy and it is difficult to distinguish between numbers and characters on the high score table.

There is nothing to distinguish the program from any of the others which resemble Manic Miner. If you are new to computers, however, and have not seen Manic Miner you may like 1994.

The game is produced by Visions, 1 Felgate Mews, Studland Street, London W6 93T.

Memory: 48K Price: £9.95