Personal Computer News


Horace And The Spiders

Author: Peter Worlock
Publisher: Sinclair Research
Machine: Spectrum 16K/48K

 
Published in Personal Computer News #016

Wholly Weblocked

Wholly Reblocked

In Horace And The Spiders, the third saga of Horace the Hungry, our hero has graduated from ski-ing to spider-hunting. So this is a game to bring out the very worst in all haters of creepy-crawlies.

Objective

You have got to destroy the poisonous spiders that lurk in a cave high in the Spider Mountains by stamping on them. But to get to the cave, you have to avoid sentinel spiders that block your path, scale hills, and cross a perilous spider bridge.

In Play

Horace can move in four directions. To move up, down, left and right the Q, Z, I and P keys are used. He can also take a running jump, so to speak, by combining the keys.

After loading, the screen fills up with Horace on a path, and it isn't long before a bright red, vicious-looking spider blocks his path.

To jump over spiders requires crucial timing, otherwise you land on top of the spider and lose one of your four lives.

The hills are easy to climb over; the spider bridge is harder to beat. To cross the bridge you have to jump from thread to thread. It sounds easy, but as soon as the spiders sense you are on their bridge they try to reel you in, so you've got to be fast. And sometimes your key-presses seem to have no effect.

Safely across the bridge, and you are in the cave with a few aimless-looking spiders mending a giant web.

You can make holes in the web by using key V, B, N or M until the web gives way. As soon as you do this the spiders bridge the gap and try to mend it. This is when they can be killed by stamping on them but this proved to be pretty difficult. As soon as a key was pressed not only did Horace walk, he kept on walking. That made it pretty difficult to get him into position to kill the spiders.

But by using the left and right keys in quick succession, trigger-finger style, you can keep control over him.

Verdict

This game is one that I would only recommend with reservation. The keyboard layout is awkward, the game is difficult to control. But it does have a certain addictive quality, and the graphics and sound, while pretty simple, do work well - especially the satisfying crunch when you stamp on a spider!

Peter WorlockTrevor Jones

Other Spectrum 16K/48K Game Reviews By Peter Worlock


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