Home Computing Weekly


Swamp Monsters

Publisher: MP
Machine: BBC Model B

 
Published in Home Computing Weekly #3

Swamp Monsters is MP Software's variation on the classic Space Panic arcade game. Pursued by alien monsters (which bear a marked resemblance to Zebedee from "The Magic Roundabout") you control the movement of a robot around a maze of stepping stones set in a deadly swamp.

As your robot moves he can pick up stones, to leave "holes" for the monsters to fall into. Stones can then be dropped on a drowning monsters to speed up his demise, or to help form a new path across the swamp.

On starting the game you have the option of using a joystick or the cursor movement keys on the keyboard to control the robot. Unfortunately you cannot switch between the two options without reloading the whole game. Movement of the robot and pursuing monsters is slow and jerky so that use of the joystick is not really viable, whilst the cursor keys are grouped very closely together making control of the robot from the keyboard more difficult than it should be.

The graphics are quite good, although the robot - a sort of pink paper bag with stick insect arms and legs - looks ridiculous, and I often found it difficult to tell exactly which stone he was standing on.

Once the swamp has been cleared of monsters, a fresh lot appear - apparently more intelligent and worth more points if you're watching your robot's score. I say "apparently" because I didn't progress so far as to meet them - I became bored with the game long before I'd cleared the second swamp of monsters.