Green Beret
(Imagine, 1986)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

Take on the might of the enemy's forces to rescue the captives in this Cold War platformer. Run, jump and shoot your way past their troops to reach your goal. Any collisions means instant death so it turns out to be quite a job - especially when some of your opponents are armed with guns while you are only armed with your trusty combat knife. Luckily, if you manage to bump off a passing handyman you can pick up new weapon, albeit with limited ammunition, such as a flamethrower or a bazooka, which prove to be considerably useful in a sticky situation. A nice looking game with limited sound, it remains difficult but ultimately frustating.

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7

Gregory has gone to sleep, but a ghost has come along and taken his alarm clock! He now has to enter his dreams and find the four pieces of the clock before he wakes up again. The first level is set in a warehouse of some sort, and then it's on to a jungle full of strange inhabitants, an art gallery, and finally a battlefield. It's a game which is aimed at younger people and this is clear from the blocky but bright graphics, but there's not much sound, and it's not very good, anyway. The first level is OK but the second level will have you tearing your hair out.

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6

As far as I know the world's only 'garden-'em-up', the aim of this oddity is to nurture a garden, and keep the pesky insects away from it. This is done by switching between the game's two characters - Grell, a gnome who mainly comes in handy for killing the insects, and Falla, a fairy who flies about sprinkling various dusts on the garden to make it grow. It may sound easy, but soon becomes fast and furious as you desperately switch characters to kill insects in some far-off corner of your garden! The graphics are fine - quite colourful and cartoony, as you would expect from Codemasters - and the sound effects are OK too. It's just the game itself didn't grab my attention. A passable attempt at a very different genre of game!

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5

Gremlins 2 has, in my opinion, some of the best graphics on the CPC. You're Billy Peltzer, from the film of the same name, and you have to battle through the Gremlins-infested TV studios where you work. It doesn't sound like much, but the game is seriously fun! Characters from the film are instantly recognisable, and the Gremlins come in all sorts of different guises. The sound is pretty good, too, but this game is all about the graphics! Giant Gremlin faces appear on huge TV sets as you pass, and the spider boss is one of the best-looking bosses ever! A truly great film licence. Be warned though, it is quite easy, and shouldn't pose too much of a problem to a seasoned gamer. Not that it matters, because you'll be coming back to finish this again and again!

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9

Enjoying a few drinks at the local pub, a cat named Norman the Wise learns that Mauron the Evil One has stolen the Orb of Life. It must be retrieved and returned to the Cup of Sorrows, so that peace and love will reign once more across the land of Greyfell. The problem is finding the Orb, and for that, you will need to find some of your friends, who will provide you with some very cryptic clues. If you can work out their meaning, you will know which object to collect and give to them so that they can help you a bit more. It sounds like a promising adventure game, but it is appallingly slow. It takes ages for Norman to go anywhere, and most of the locations are drab and dull. The mostly monochrome graphics and awful sound effects make things even worse.

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2

This is the second of the two Adrian Mole games and it's extremely similar to the first. It's so similar, in fact, that you might as well go and read the review for The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole! The garish graphics are still here, as are the well written entries and the lack of interaction, where all you do is make the occasional decision from three possible options, which affects your score (again starting at 40%). Er... is there anything else I can say?

See also: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.

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5

Gryzor
(Ocean, 1987)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

Lance and Bill have to rid the Earth of the very H. R. Giger aliens that have invaded it in this excellent conversion of the arcade coin-op Contra. This game boasts superb graphics and really shows off the graphic capabilities of the CPC. Along with some great sound effects the gameplay is also just right and it's a really enjoyable challenge. The 3D sections are quite impressive and it's well worth completing as the ending is hilarious.

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10

A blatant rip-off of Vigilante, The Guardian Angel (or Freddy Hardest in South Manhattan to Spanish readers) puts you in the shoes of a red-bereted Guardian Angel (surprise!) as you walk the streets taking out the bad guys, who attack from the front and behind, until you reach the end of the level. The graphics are very detailed - perhaps too much so, as the sprites often become hard to distinguish from the background - a problem made worse by the game's immense lack of colour. Also, the sound effects are bad. And on top of that, the game's far too hard; you just can't get past Ricky 'Death Star' Chan in his forklift truck on the second level!

See also: Freddy Hardest.

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2

Anyone who doesn't like puzzle games should steer clear of this game. The aim here is to place coloured tiles next to each other so that they form squares or rectangles. On each level, you must achieve a certain number of points to complete it, and you only get one chance. However, there are some areas of the screen that you cannot use, and on higher levels, you must think carefully about how best to fill the available space. Don't spend too long thinking, though, as there are one or more balls bouncing around the screen and draining your time limit at the same time! There are fifteen difficulty levels, each represented by a guardian which you select on the menu. The graphics are very pretty, but the gameplay is a bit repetitive.

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6

The Raiders have come to take the Earthlings away and turn them into Mutants, and only you can stop them. Zooming over the surface, look out for the Raiders as they attempt to snatch the Earthlings and take them away, or preferably, shoot them before they can do this. You can, however, rescue the Earthlings and return them to the surface. Each wave brings on new types of enemy, and there are plenty of them - if you get past the third wave, you're doing rather well! The game is based on the classic Defender and the graphics and sound effects are suitably retro, and though it's difficult, it's quite addictive and great if you're after a quick blast.

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7