Your Sinclair


Trailblazer

Author: Rachael Smith
Publisher: Gremlin
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Your Sinclair #12

Trailblazer

Bobby Bearing, Action Reflex, Ballblazer, Bounder and Bounces... if you ask me, this recent trend in games is a load of old spherical objects. And helped by the addition of Trailblazer. If the others drove you dotty, this one will really have you in a spin.

I made the mistake of bouncing into the office when Ed was handing this one out for review. Mistake, I say! That's an understatement. I've been playing it ever since. Trailblazer sort of sneaks up on you... and it doesn't let go.

The idea is simple. Just bounce a footie along a pavement - a pavement in outer space, that is. A pavement with cracks in it. A pavement with more cracks than pavement, at times. And though I'm sure you always try to keep on the straight and narrow, this particular path winds wildly round. You get the idea?

Trailblazer

So there you are, guiding your sphere along Aerial Avenue, and it's then you discover that different types of pavement have different effects. You'll spend so much time with your ball bouncing over the edge that your sanity could quite easily follow it.

What to do then? Become a student of the 14 courses' layouts, as i have. Spend all day and all night learning which path to take and when to bounce. Luckily there's a very good practice option, which lets you practice against a time limit. But for real thrills try the gruelling arcade version, which only allows you four extra bounces.

This is undoubtedly a classic. But don't touch it. It'll have you bouncing up and down in frustration.

Rachael Smith

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