A first look at some of the latest releases
Escape: (Warex Soft)
You are a member of a group of prisoners who have managed to
dig a runnel to freedom from their hut. Three prisoners are chosen
to try out the escape route. Each must try to dodge the guards,
dogs, machine guns and cross the minefields. The final stage,
if you're still alive, is to find the station and catch a train
to Switzerland.
Keyboards: (Musicsoft)
A set of keyboard programs for use either on their own or within
your own programs. The menu includes a simple three voice organ
in Basic, a single voice organ with pitch bend and two chord organ
programs.
Fortress: (Pace)
Pilot of a starfighter flying over enemy defences, your mission
is to destroy enemy HQ with four direct hits, being careful to
avoid rockets and having to negotiate walls and force fields.
Gun turrets and enemy planes are ready to fire at you if you find
yourself in line with them. Your task is not made any easier by
your diminishing fuel supply which can only be replenished by
destroying enemy fuel barrels. The game incorporates quite stunning
graphics.
Word Sequencing: (Acornsoft)
A series of jumbled words must be arranged to form either a proverb,
rhyme, or sensible sentence. Identify the words using the cursor
keys and reposition them using the function keys.
Cottage Software:
This has four levels aimed at 4-5 year olds. Counting - Level
1 features spacebar counting exercises with hi-res graphics. Up
to five random silhouettes appear in line which must be counted
using the key. On each count the figure is detailed and coloured.
A wrong count produces failure. 10 screens.
Counting - Level 3 features numeric or function key counting
of detailed characters placed on screen at random. Once again
a wrong entry results in failure. In both programs a successful
entry results in a pleasant smile from a jovial face.
Missing Signs: (Acornsoft)
Three separate Maths programs. 1. Identify missing signs (+ —
* /) to make selected calculations correct. 2. Identify missing
signs (< — >) to balance out two equations involving (+
—). 3. As number 2 but for equations using (* I). All menu operated
with selectable difficulty.
Amazing Ollie: (Storm)
Move Ollie round different mazes in four separate games. First
you find fish and deliver them, then play at counting them. Run
against the clock in the third or play blind in the last.
Dodgy Dealer: (Wright & Stradling)
Boss of a small manufacturing business, your aim is to secure
the largest possible average yearly profit. How should you invest
your initial £5,000 and how much should your product sell
for? You may call upon reports from your departments or even pay
for some expert advice, but at the end of the day the decisions
you make are yours alone.
Eagle: (Salamander)
Guide your Eagle spacecraft through the caves and tunnels of
the four moons of Thrug, collecting iridium pods, avoiding hazards
and conserving energy. Each moon has five different screens bristling
with hazards.
Paras: (Lothlorien)
A strategy war game simulating a force of 15 men under your command
whose task is to break the enemy's communications. Two separate
scenarios create the action. Position your men and weapons on
the grid squares as you try to destroy the bridge.
