Home Computing Weekly


Buck Rogers
By U. S. Gold
Commodore 64

 
Published in Home Computing Weekly #105

This game is yet another conversion from the arcades. The scenario is sickeningly familiar. On the screen, you have a view of your spaceship which you pilot across the surface of a planet. The feeling of movement is achieved by moving bands of colour which travel towards you.

There are a range of mountains in the distance, but you never seem to reach them. At regular intervals, pairs of pylons approach you. You must fly your ship between the pylons. Contact with either means death.

After you've passed through a number of gates, enemy space ships come at you. You must destroy these ships as well as pass through the gates. The next wave comprises bouncing nasties.

Buck Rogers: Planet Of Zoom

The final phase involves flying through space killing nasties, culminating with the mothership. It's then back to the beginning with things a little nastier. The variation between difficulty levels is small apart from a different colour screen. The ship has limited fuel so to keep going you must gain ships by completing screens or killing nasties - I think.

The graphics are excellent with use of shadow to give a 3-D effect and smooth movement. Sound is minimal and generally uninspired.

Since this was a preview copy, I had no instructions to help me. Hence my vague comments. Overall this is an extremely tedious game which really didn't seem to get anywhere. After three screens, the play was hardly any tougher than at the start.

A.W.

Other Commodore 64 Game Reviews By A.W.


  • Eureka Front Cover
    Eureka
  • Combat Lynx Front Cover
    Combat Lynx
  • Midnight Express Front Cover
    Midnight Express
  • Ad Infinitum Front Cover
    Ad Infinitum
  • Planet Attack Front Cover
    Planet Attack
  • Doodle Front Cover
    Doodle
  • Pole Position Front Cover
    Pole Position
  • Mikro 64 Front Cover
    Mikro 64
  • Strip Poker: A Sizzling Game Of Chance Front Cover
    Strip Poker: A Sizzling Game Of Chance
  • Arrow Plus Front Cover
    Arrow Plus