Sinclair User


Rock Fall

Author: Chris Jenkins
Publisher: Top Ten
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Sinclair User #77

Rockfall

Any time I see a game with the word 'rock' in the title, I leap screaming out of the window and plummet headlong to the concrete hundreds of feet below rather than face the prospect of playing yet another Boulderdash clone. (Rock, rock! - GT) Not that Rock Fall is that bad - three years ago it would have gone down well amongst the type of games player who prefers a combination of mindwork and fast reactions to pretty graphics.

It's the same old story: several chambers depicted in 2-D, full of boulders, diamonds, rock walls and booby traps. Collect the diamonds, avoid the booby traps, don't dislodge boulders which will fall on your head, and make your way to the exit before the air supply runs out.

Your Pacman-like rock chomper, Rock Fool, has 32 screens to work through. Control is by joystick or keyboard, but the keyboard controls are badly chosen and can't be redefined.

You can, though, design your own screens. Using a 14x9 character grid, you can place boulders, walls, skulls, diamonds and the like, then save your screens to tape and load them at a later date. This editor is really the game's saving grace; without it, we'd have had another cheapo clone, but with it, it becomes a jolly little bargain.

Overall Summary

Unremarkable version of the classic Boulderdash.

Chris Jenkins

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