Commodore User


Cheapos

Publisher: The Hit Squad
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Commodore User #74

Short Circuit (The Hit Squad)

In a million-to-one accident, robot number five was brought to life, made into a film, then into a game. Unfortunately not everybody is happy with a multi-million dollar robot running loose.

It's up to you to stop robot five falling into the hands of his owners (Who would quite happily see him rust) by guiding him away from security guards, then creating a dummy robot to die in his place.

Hardly well received when it was first released, Short Circuit seems to have matured with age and an eight pound price slash. An interesting arcade adventure which, at the price, should be enough for any potential robot lover.

Hypersports (The Hit Squad, C64)

You need to go back almost half a decade in the annuls of computing to find the original reviews of this near classic sports game.

Converted from the highly successful Konami coin-op, Hypersports was greeted with rave reviews from all sides. Incorporating cartoon-style graphics, six testing events including skeet shooting, gymnastics and swimming, and traditional manic left/right joystick waggling. Hypersports is an excellent nostalgia trip that's well worth a look for any newcomers.

Speedboat Assassin (16 Blitz, Amiga)

Speedboat Assassin is one of the first in a new range of budget games that promises you the cheapest quality 16-bit software this side of a CU coverdisk. To be honest, I think they've blown it already, because this is a pile of crap right from the word go, apart from some rather natty scrolling.

Played in the vein of Live And Let Die, you pilot a speedboat through a rapidly approaching barrage of mines, missile-firing towers and enemy speedboats. To begin with, you're unarmed but as you emerge into New York harbour, you're greeted by a friendly helicopter, which, ever so kindly, leaves you a gun. Sadly, after that the game gets really tedious.

As I've said, the scrolling is fast and smooth, and some of the sprites are huge, but the 3D update is pretty average, and the collision detection is appalling. The sound is dull and the game is one big yawn from start to finsih. That still makes it poor value for a fiver.

Sorcery Plus (16 Blitz, Amiga)

Now this has to be worth a fiver of anyone's money. Sorcery Plus is a 16-bit conversion of an old 8-bit classic. When the original was released, it instantly became a cult classic in this building.

This is an arcade adventure along traditional lines. Rush around picking up and dropping items in a desperate attempt to unlock the wizards imprisoned behind doors around a maze of screens. If you want to know where Rafaele Cecco got the inspiration for Stormlord, take a look at this.

Sorcery Plus has neat, if minimal, graphics, atmospheric sound and it's totally addictive. Cheapo of the month.