Acorn User


Noc-A-Bloc
By Virgin Games
BBC Model B

 
Published in Acorn User #019

Block-Buster

Noc-A-Bloc

Another maze/moving-block type game. You're a little bird in a cold store being chased by ghost-like spods. You can kill these video nasties by squashing them with ice blocks or by stunning them (you and your hero push the edge of the play area) and then walking over them. If the three special encrusted star ice blocks are lined up during the course of the game you get a bonus. There are time penalties, too.

I found Noc-A-Bloc coarser and much more sluggish than Saloon Sally and got the hang of it only by crossing my hands over the keyboard. The controls are A and Z for up and down; < and > for left and right (the instructions say the opposite, by the way). I was brought up on Z and X for left and right and : and / for up and down - I wish the software firms would get together and standardise. The game can, however, be played with a joystick.

Noc-A-Bloc was written by Richard Bygrave.

Alan Pipes

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