April Showers (Bevan) Review | A&B Computing - Everygamegoing

A&B Computing


April Showers
By Bevan Technology
BBC Model B

 
Published in A&B Computing 2.11

April Showers

I must confess that the storyline to April Showers is refreshingly different and I have never seen a game like this before.

You control a little cloud which floats in the sky. Underneath, there is a small plant thirsty for rain and your task, as you might have guessed, is to keep it alive. Now it would be too easy if all you had to do was to keep the cloud over the plant. Of course, there are baddies in the form of floating brollies! They may be sucked in to gain points, but they drunk your precious rain (that's what it says in the instructions). Rain may be replenished by bumping into other clouds. The trick is to make it rain just enough to keep the plant alive and not get dried up.

This is where the game begins to show its bad design. Firstly, you can not be sure how close you are to drying up. You are suddenly told that you are low on rain and by that time, it's usually too late. So it's all a matter of intuition and not careful judgement. Secondly, there is no variety. All you do is keep the plant alive. No different enemies or new characters. Also, sound effects could have been a lot better. A three part harmony music in the background would have made this game much more interesting.

Usual features such as freeze, sound on/off and hall of fame are there and I must admit that the graphics are quite nice, although there was a bit of flicker. However, as I said, there is no variety and to be quite honest the principle is a bit too simple.

Shingo Sugiura

Other BBC Model B Game Reviews By Shingo Sugiura


  • BMX On The Moon Front Cover
    BMX On The Moon
  • Mayday Front Cover
    Mayday
  • Chip Buster Front Cover
    Chip Buster
  • FMon Front Cover
    FMon
  • Wilf Front Cover
    Wilf
  • Microcosm Front Cover
    Microcosm
  • Spooks And Spiders Front Cover
    Spooks And Spiders
  • Ledgeman Front Cover
    Ledgeman
  • Duck Front Cover
    Duck
  • Spaceman Sid Front Cover
    Spaceman Sid