Can you travel along the Upward Path to attain the rank of Dervish using your magical powers, and in doing so, reveal the secret of the universe? Hmmm... There isn't much explanation of what you need to do, but what is obvious is that this is a Gauntlet clone, so there's lots of wandering around mazes and shooting monsters to be done. Things are made a bit more tricky in that there are several types of weapon, and working out which weapon is most suited to defeating particular types of monster is a process of trial and error. I quickly became bored with the game; the graphics are ugly and garish, the sound effects are abysmal, and the gameplay is totally uninspiring.

More information on TACGR

4

Wild West action awaits in the town of Devil Stone in this two-part shoot-'em-up. The first part is a horizontally scrolling affair in which you shoot all the cowboys you can manage. They walk towards you and will also shoot from windows. If you're hit by bullets, you lose energy, but if you touch any cowboys, you lose one of your three lives. The second part is set in a saloon where the customers take aim at you one at a time, and you must kill them before they fire their gun and kill you. The graphics are beautiful in both parts, and although the first part may seem very difficult, it isn't once you get the hang of it, although there should be more restart points. The second part is good as well, but relies a lot on luck, and if you are shot, you have to start all over again.

See also: Gunsmoke.

More information on TACGR

7

Deep in the centre of the earth is a network of rooms where life-bearing cells are generated. However, a hacker has altered the programming of these cells, and it is your mission to restore the programming to its normal state. On each of the many screens, a cell is generated at the yellow door and bounces off walls and tiles towards the red door - the door of evil. You have to move the arrow tiles so that the cell is guided towards the green door - the door of life. You have a magnetic key that can be dropped in order to move the tiles, but watch out for the robots! Also be aware that certain robots, as well as the cells, will kill you instantly if you touch them, depending on whether or not you're carrying the magnetic key. It sounds confusing, but if you like a mixture of puzzle-solving and arcade action, this is the type of game you'll enjoy.

More information on TACGR

7

You’re exploring a sunken ship, trying to find a lost golden crown. You’ll first have to collect many treasures hidden in the darker places of the ship, avoiding ghosts and having enough oxygen to survive. This is the kind of Sorcery-style game that you love to play; even though the graphics aren’t brilliant, the sound effects are poor and the action is rather repetitive. Anyway, it will keep you in front of your screen for a few hours, because you always want to discover new treasures.

More information on TACGR

6

Little Dianne has to collect 160 diamonds scattered over four levels, and deposit them in several safes, which can be found on each level. Of course, there are a lot of monsters which try to stop her from doing this, and on each screen, they will try to block your way as much as possible, although there are gates which you can swing open to kill them temporarily. You can move between the levels by finding the teleport, even if you haven't collected all the diamonds on a level. It's nothing original at all, and the graphics and overall presentation of the game look really dated.

More information on TACGR

4

Dick Tracy
(Disney, 1991)

The famous comic strip detective must rescue his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart, who has been kidnapped by Big Boy Caprice and his gang. The game involves lots of shooting and beating up Caprice's henchmen, some of whom are heavily armed. Occasionally they will leave behind guns which you can collect, but their supply of ammunition is limited. The film that this game is based on was memorable for using only primary colours, and the graphics in the normal CPC version retain this theme, although they are blocky and poorly defined. The cartridge version has much better graphics (as you would expect), uses scrolling instead of flick-screen action, and makes great use of the extra capabilities of the Plus machines. Note that my rating is for the cartridge version; the normal CPC version only deserves a rating of 6 out of 10.

More information on TACGR

8

An alien breeding experiment on the spaceship Taccia has gone badly wrong and the ship is now overrun with alien species. You are the last remaining human on board, and it is your task to set the self-destruct mechanisms on board the ship and find the escape pod. Energy barriers and teleporters provide access to other parts of the spaceship, but you'll need to find the correct tokens to be able to switch them on and off, and you'll also need to find a computer terminal nearby. While this shoot-'em-up may have a marvellous title, it doesn't live up to expectations. Although the action is fast and smooth, most of the rooms are fairly spartan, with hardly any variety in the aliens that you can kill and objects to collect being scattered very thinly.

More information on TACGR

5

A simple shoot-'em-up in which you control a submarine and must fire missiles at 'planes, helicopters, boats and other submarines. The submarine can only shoot upwards, though, and while you're trying to aim your missiles correctly, the enemy craft are firing ammunition of their own at you. As you progress through the levels, there is more ammunition to dodge, and your movement is also increasingly restricted as you won't be able to move up to the surface of the sea. Unfortunately, each level has exactly the same enemy formations which makes the game too easy and repetitive in the long term.

More information on TACGR

6

Dizzy
(Codemasters, 1987)

This is the Dizzy adventure that started it all, and it's stood the test of time well. Dizzy has to defeat the evil wizard Zaks by making a magic potion consisting of four ingredients - but finding them will not be easy. The graphics are reasonable and the music is quite cool as well, although there are no other sound effects. The game is a little easy (although there is a secret area which you will need to discover), and there are lots of extra lives to collect, but if you fall into the trap in the haunted forest, you won't be able to carry on. It's very annoying and loses the game some marks for me. A cut-down special edition of the game for one of Amstrad Action's covertapes also exists.

See also: Bubble Dizzy, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, Dizzy Down the Rapids, Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk, Fantasy World Dizzy, Fast Food, Kwik Snax, Magicland Dizzy, Panic Dizzy, Spellbound Dizzy, Treasure Island Dizzy.

More information on TACGR

8

Despite the name, this is not a dice game but a fruit machine simulation, although it doesn't have all that many bonus features. However, if you score points, you are always given the option to gamble by guessing what type of fruit will be selected on a spinning wheel. If you are very lucky indeed and manage to light up six fruits in the correct order, as shown at the bottom of the screen you can play a dice game in which you can win up to 200 points by guessing whether the next roll of the die will be higher or lower than the previous roll. As well as playing a 'normal' game, you can also try to break the bank by amassing a certain number of points. The graphics are colourful, as one would expect, and I actually like its relative simplicity, although if you want a fruit machine simulation with lots of bells and whistles, this isn't it.

More information on TACGR

7