Personal Computer News


Maurice Minor
By J. Morrison Micros
Dragon 32

 
Published in Personal Computer News #040

Morris Dance

As there are now several Grand Prix games for the Dragon, a new one has to offer something unusual, which is certainly what this one tries to do. It has you behind the wheel of that old family favourite the Morris Minor, which has somehow strayed onto a racing circuit.

Objectives

The aim in Maurice Minor is to complete ten miles of the track in the shortest possible time. I criticise the bit of advertising which suggests your car falls to pieces as you go, which is not the case; there's merely a counter at the top of the screen keeping track of the number of bumps you've had.

In Play

You're first asked your name, in case you make the Hall of Fame, and can then choose from the six skill levels, Kingpin at the top or Sunday Driver down the bottom.

Maurice Minor

Your Maurice stays in the same position close to the left of the screen while the track scrolls towards you from the right. Admittedly it's not much of a track, being dead straight and with no other graphics apart from cars and the odd patch of oil, but with your own car badly in need of a diet it's as well there are no other hazards or twists in the track to deal with as getting past the Formula One cars is tricky enough. It's not too bad at the easier levels, but as you climb towards Kingpin you move much faster, and you can't play safe and drive slowly or other cars appear from the left and go right up Maurice's bumper. At the harder levels too, there's less joystick control; the slightest wiggle moving you off-course, which makes overtaking a very delicate manoeuvre indeed, and not for anyone with the shakes or a wonky joystick.

The screen shows your timer at bottom left, mileage remaining at bottom right, with your accident counter across the top. You receive one chequered flag per bump, and when the line of flags has reached 100 per cent that's the end of Maurice. If you complete the ten miles intact then you may find your name in the Hall of Fame, and you can then choose to have another race at the same level or change to another by returning to the start.

The game could hardly be described as spectacularly colourful, but it's noisy enough with the crashes and a revving sound that increases in pitch as you accelerate, and overall it is hard to play.

Verdict

I usually find Grand Prix games boring, but this is the least boring one I've seen for the Dragon, so, if you're more of a fan than I am you won't go far wrong with Maurice the Morris from Morrison.

Mike Gerrard

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