A&B Computing


Chip Buster
By Software Invasion
BBC/Electron

 
Published in A&B Computing 3.02

Chip Buster

I do believe that this is an original game for the Beeb. Let me explain. You control a microscopic man to keep a computer in working order by running about the tracks repairing damaged components. Believe it or not, these components are damaged by 'Bugs' which 'byte' large holes in the board (that's what it says on the inlay card, honest!). To repair these, you move your man (he can only move along the tracks which adds to the general cacophony of the game) to the weak spot and hammer away until it's repaired. This all sounds totally ludicrous but is in fact an accurate description of the game.

As you move, the whole screen scrolls (by a few pixels on the BBC version but by the screenful on the Electron) to reveal new parts of the circuit board which is being gnawed away by these things which look incredibly like garden spiders and you have to reach that spot and hammer away. Meanwhile, there are half a dozen or so other bugs chewing away somewhere else accompanied by the worst piece of music I have ever heard on the BBC B. By pressing 'D' in the middle of a game, you can get a damage report (which is incidentally totally illegible on a television) which tells you which components are being chewed away.

The game ends when the bugs manage to chew you up or all the components are chewed up. This all sounds incredibly good fun but in practice, it's rather full. The trouble is, there's so little skill involved. It boils down to moving all over the circuit board pressing RETURN from time to time (and perhaps D if you're really keen). It's a shame because the idea has a lot of potential. Obvious improvements would be better music and sound effects, radar facility (as in Planetoid), better animation, less flicker, bonus stages, a bit more variety in the nasties etc. As it stands, it's a no-no.

Shingo Sugiura

Other BBC/Electron Game Reviews By Shingo Sugiura


  • Super Pool Front Cover
    Super Pool
  • Winter Olympiad '88 Front Cover
    Winter Olympiad '88
  • BMX On The Moon Front Cover
    BMX On The Moon
  • Roboman Front Cover
    Roboman
  • Duck Front Cover
    Duck
  • Winged Warlords Front Cover
    Winged Warlords
  • Sinbad Front Cover
    Sinbad
  • 3D Grand Prix Front Cover
    3D Grand Prix
  • Drogna Front Cover
    Drogna
  • Spaceman Sid Front Cover
    Spaceman Sid