Hewson
£8.95
You might as well ignore the fact that this game is supposed to be the Spectrum version of a 64 game called Paradroid. I mean, it's a whole different bailgame. Er, that's just a figure of speech, it's not a ball game...
The plot, for those of you wise enough not to have played the 64 version, revolves around a certain little droid called KLP-2, aka Klepto, assigned to deactivate the armies of hostile alien droids that inhabit the underground city of Quazatron.
Klepto disables the droids either by blasting them to their component atoms (crude but effective), pushing them off thew programmed routes, ramming them if he's strong enough, or by 'grappling'. This is a process by which you take over the grappled droid's mind at circuit level, switching gates in his circuits until he relinquishes control.
It's totally brilliant! By far the most original scenario to pass before my eyes, and certainly the greatest all-round challenge. Don't get me wrong, I like games that involve blasting things to bits, but as well as the thrill of destruction I like a bit at strategy thrown in. Partly to justify my interest in wanton havoc, but also because it's nice to play a game that stretches more than your joystick. I like to be stretched all over... but then I'm a bit pervy.
Spectrum
Hewson Consultants
Shoot-'em-up
£8.95
Remember Paradroid? The stunning original arcade game that made Andrew Braybrook a name spoken in hushed tones at every computer club. Well this is better!
Steve Turner, author of Avalon, Dragontorc and Astro-Clone, has taken Andrew's idea, added some nice graphics, tweaked the plot and produced a game which will have arcade and strategy fans alike beating a path to Hewson's door. You start off a humble, menial robot in the city of Quazatron, which is swarming with enemy robots of varying degrees of lethality. Your job is to wipe them out. This is no simple arcade game. You can have reflexes so sharp they hurt, and you still won't win. The idea is not only to blast away, but to get in close and "grapple" with the enemy.
You then move on to a takeover screen, which is a battle to outwit the enemy robot by invading his logic circuits.
Once again, Hewson have set the standard that others must follow.
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