Previous Next

Go on. Make a pig of yourself and grab a copy of Oink! You won't be sorry. Three addictive games for the price of one make this a real value for money package.

OK, so the games aren't all original - but they are extremely well put together and programmed by John Williams - probably best known for Jet Boot Jack.

The main aim of the game is to help Uncle Pigg, the porky proprietor of Oink!, the cult comic rapidly taking over the universe, to get his next issue out on time.

Here at C&VG we know all about the hazards of producing a magazine - but we've never had to contend with Pete's Pimple, Rubbishman or Tom Thug when we're attempting to beat our deadlines. But you will if you decide to take on the editorship of Oink!

The idea is quite simple really. You play the three sub-games to earn points and win parts of pages which you use to fill up your issue of Oink!

You can read the panels you win as you go - these contain words of wisdom, jokes and puzzles. Studying these panels provides a break from the frantic action of the games themselves.

As you play, you build up your circulation - can you beat C&VG's 106,571?

Let's take a look at the three sub-games one by one. First up is Pete's Pimple. Like the other games this is based - extremely loosely - on characters from the comic. This is Arkan-Oink or maybe even Krak-Oink! A straightforward Breakout type game.

You bounce Pete's Pimple around the screen knocking out the blocks and blasting oncoming aliens and collecting mystery bonuses. There are twelve different screens. Clear ten and all the panels on page one of your issue will be filled then go back and play the two other screens for bonus panels which you can place where you like in your magazine.

Rubbishman is a horizontally scrolling Zaz-Oink! You guide the refuse-collecting superhero through six hazard-filled zones - zapping objects and collecting rubbish.

Each zone is split into two sections. In the first you have to control Rubbishman's altitude by moving the joystick left and right while blasting away at the same time.

He has to fly under and over hazards while dodging around others - flashing grids, grey areas and walls are deadly to our hero. Earn extra points by hitting blocks marked with question-marks.

Fly at ground level as much as possible, as flying high uses up energy at a faster rate - and Rubbishman can collapse just as easily from lack of power.

At the end of each zone Rubbishman enters a section where the controls are altered. Here he has to dodge oncoming objects and nasties. Some can be destroyed, others can't. Oil barrels give him more power when blasted.

Complete a zone and you get a bonus panel. This is possibly the most difficult game to get into in the package until you get the hang of left/right joystick movements controlling your altitude and working out what you can fly over without getting zapped.

After getting to grips with those simple principles you'll be able to enjoy an entertaining shoot-'em-up.

Tom Thug? Well, if you're as old as me you'll remember a brilliant coin-op called Berserk. Tom Thug is Bers-Oink! Well, almost. It's a mixture of that and the Gauntlet-style of game currently trendy among gamesters.

You manoeuvre Tom's Thug mobile around, zapping robots and paralysing deadly homing droids, while desperately searching for bonus blocks which, when destroyed, give you all manner of different goodies.

To my mind this is the best of the three games - fast moving and challenging. Worth the asking price on its own.

Watch out for the campaigner for public morals, Mary Lighthouse, who wants to stop Uncle Pigg doing his job.

If you don't know the comic it doesn't matter in the least. The games don't have that much to do with it apart from using the character's names.

All you do have to know is the Oink! represents the new trend towards value for money packages from software houses.

Oink! is brilliant value for money and the games are all very playable.