Computer Gamer


Seaside Special
By Taskset
Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer Gamer #1

Seaside Special

This is a wonderfully original arcade action game where the scenario bears a very close resemblance to 'V'.

The game is played using a joystick to control the movements of our hero Radium Rodney. The prelude to the scenario concerns the invasion of aliens called Polytikians whose aim is to process their Nuclear Material with the aid of Earth's fresh water resources. Having taken over the Government, the aliens build their Nuclear plant and begin to discharge deadly radioactive waste into the sea. This then leads to the contamination of the water as well as the flora and fauna that reside in and around it.

Our hero discovers this and tries to do something about it. The object is therefore to help Rodney collect enough seaweed, from the beach, to take back to Downing Street as a protest.

Seaside Special

Rodney's task is to traverse the beach whilst avoiding the rocks, aliens, Guards, crabs and the other mutated beach life, up to the water's edge to collect about ten clumps of radioactive seaweed which can only be picked up when the tide has gone out and before it comes back in again to wash away the seaweed. Whilst at the same time avoiding the alien that follows Rodney. Contact with the alien results in the loss of a life by increasing Rodney's level of radioactivity as indicated by the dosimeter.

The only way to slow down the alien is to bombard them with radioactive seaweed, so as to give you more time to collect the required quantity of seaweed before you can return to Downing Street. Throwing the seaweed can be accomplished by holding down the fire button, aiming the joystick in the direction of the throw and then releasing the fire button.

A useful tip is to always keep on the move and the longer you hold onto the seaweed the higher the dosimeter climbs, which is also affected by the length of time spent paddling in the sea. Mutant crabs bite and will cause Rodney to jump. Guards shoot as they walk along the beach, so it is a good idea to avoid being on the same level as they always shoot to kill.

Once having collected enough seaweed the player is then able to go to Number 10 to return the seaweed. Here bonus points are awarded for launching and hitting the famous faces that appear in the windows by using the above-mentioned technique for releasing the radioactive seaweed. I should mention that having a joystick with the auto-firing mechanism is a disadvantage in this game as Rodney will never seem to be able to hang onto this collected seaweed.

Naresh Daswani

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