Home Computing Weekly


Planet Attack

Author: A.W.
Publisher: Scorpio Gamesworld
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Home Computing Weekly #118

It doesn't take a dose of second sight to suss that this is a version of that well-thrashed favourite, Skramble. I won't bore you with full details of the overall idea other than to say that it required you to fly through a number of caverns, shooting or avoiding various adversaries. In order to replenish your decreasing fuel levels, you must bomb fuel dumps. Get to the end of the caverns and you start again but at a more difficult level.

That all sounds pretty dull, so what does this version offer? Well, the answer is quite a lot. First, the graphics are quite interesting with scrolling character patterns and other effects. After the first zone things become a little unusual. Most of your time passed snaking down a complex passage, the latter stages of which reflect a severe dose of Jeff Minter, with flying birds and toilets with flapping lids. Additionally, you must negotiate a pin table with quite tight passages. The last zone has force fields to avoid. One slight peculiarity is that unlike other Skramble clones, fuel dumps are not completely destroyed when you hit them. With care you can hit each dump twice getting double fuel.

The scrolling is smooth and the game has quite a professional feel to it. The game play is good and very enjoyable. Notwithstanding the innovations though, there isn't enough in it to justify buying this game if you already have a copy of Skramble. If you don't, at the price, it's a snip.

A.W.

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