Impossaball
(Hewson, 1987)

Now here's a frustrating game if ever there was one. You control a bouncing ball and move left and right along a horizontally scrolling arena. Starting on the far left, you have to knock the ball against some cylinders and avoid the various hazards such as spikes, mines, and the usual monsters, and then reach the far right of the arena before your time runs out. The graphics are a bit lacking in colour and the sound effects are simple, but the game really is 'impossaball', as there are too many awkward gaps you have to squeeze through, and it's so easy to touch the spikes.

More information on TACGR

6

Monty Mole has been called out of retirement by some aliens to destroy five guardians. The adventure takes Monty through the Klondike mines, the Amazon rainforest, the Orient, and Iceland, before the final encounter in Bermuda. You can choose to play any of the first four levels in any order you want. This is a good thing, because if you had to start on a particular level, you'd never get to see the other four! It's a very difficult game, and even worse, you've only got one life. The graphics are very cheerful and colourful, but there's very little sound. Thankfully, you can play enough of the game to keep coming back to it, but it's still much too tough.

See also: Auf Wiedersehen Monty, Monty on the Run.

More information on TACGR

7

Impossible Mission
(Epyx, 1986)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

Evil Professor Elvin Atombender is engaged in a deadly game of nuclear blackmail. Using his supercomputer, he will crack the secret US nuclear missile launch codes in six hours, allowing him to destroy the world. Only Agent 4125 of the IMF (Impossible Mission Force) can stop him by entering his secret underground complex and shutting it down. With his pocket computer in hand, our hero must explore the complex rooms, avoiding the guard robots whilst searching the ordinary furniture within for passwords which enable to you to disable the bots, reset the navigation lifts and others which when combined will disable Elvin's computer. Rather ugly looking, no speech (unlike the Commodore 64 version) and extremely difficult – but a classic nonetheless.

See also: Impossible Mission II.

More information on TACGR

6

Warped madman Elvin Atombender is back in another attempt at nuclear Armageddon, and after Agent 4125's previous success in spoiling the evil professor's plans, he is again sent in to stop him. This time he has to infiltrate his secret tower complex, and once more is taking the lifts in the rooms, jumping around hostile guard robots which have evolved to kill you in more varied ways, searching the everyday objects and furniture to get codes that can help you and which will enable you to end Atombender's nefarious scheme. Essentially more of the same, but simply better presented this time round with mild graphical improvements, but sadly still without the speech which the CPC is quite capable of.

See also: Impossible Mission.

More information on TACGR

6

I don't recall this game being released for the CPC in the UK, but anyway... A Nazi agent has stolen a statue that Indiana Jones has uncovered, but he drops some papers about the lost city of Atlantis, and it turns out that the agent is working for Dr. Hans Ubermann, a physicist who is trying to build a nuclear bomb using a material called orichalcum. Indy knows that one of his colleagues, Sophia Hapgood, is interested in Atlantis, and the two of them set out to stop the Nazis. This is an arcade adventure which is viewed in an isometric perspective. Both you and Sophia have to find objects to enable you to pursue your quest. Initially things look good, but the game is at times grindingly slow and you spend too much time plodding around in frustration. It's subtitled 'the action game', but there's not a lot of action in it!

See also: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

More information on TACGR

5

Indy is on a quest for the Holy Grail before the Nazis grab it. The four levels take you in a search for the Cross of Coronado, then going to a castle for the Crusader's Shield, acting as a stowaway on a flying Zeppelin, and finally, traversing pits and platforms to reach the Grail. There are some fantastic pictures from the film of the same name before you play each level, and there's a fairly good rendition of the theme tune, but the in-game graphics are monochrome, albeit detailed and well animated. The game's big let-down, though, is that it's too slow – Indy takes ages to land on the ground when he jumps.

See also: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

More information on TACGR

5

Based (obviously) around the film of the same name, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a game that excels greatly on various levels, that lets itself down slightly in the most important aspect of all. To my delight, the graphics, though not groundbreaking, were clear and well animated. Indy is instantly recognisable. The sound also really impressed me. From the Indy theme tune right down to the crack of his whip, everything is spot on. So far, so good, but then comes the difficulty... this must rank as one of the hardest games ever to be created! The first level sees Indy rescuing slave children, while using his whip to stun the attacking Thuggee guards. The cavern is huge, pitfalls lie everywhere, and the guards attack in swarms! I like a bit of a challenge, but this is ridiculous! By the way, the second level sees you riding a mine cart. Sounds great, but you'll never see it!

See also: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

More information on TACGR

7

This game is based upon Atari's Super Sprint and is a poor offering indeed. The game consists of racing endlessly (or so it seems) around one track. The computer-controlled car acts like it is drunk, moving in all directions, often blocking your progress. Simple graphics and only one sound effect make this a pointless addition to anyone's collection. Apparently, the company responsible for this terrible game soon disappeared and never released another game... I wonder why?

More information on TACGR

0

Infernal House
(Lankhor, 1991)

It's Friday the 13th of April, 1990. You're a private detective, and your journalist friend Sophie disappeared three days ago while investigating the infernal house of Professor Tcherslawsky. You know from one of his colleagues, Rainer Gelehrtman, that he has worked on some diabolical experiments in the past, and fear the worst as you enter the house. But nothing can prepare you for the shocking and horrific fate that has befallen Sophie, and many other innocent people as well... This is a very nice French adventure which has some excellent graphics; the introduction sequence is very well done indeed and a welcome addition to the game. Although you can't save your current position, there is little opportunity for dying, but the game is still quite a challenge, with several secret rooms and clues to be discovered around the house.

More information on TACGR

9

You are trapped in a labyrinth full of traps, and the only way to escape is by finding the five keys that will open the ten treasure chests scattered about the labyrinth. This is a simple yet delightful little platform game with a wide variety of devious traps to catch the player unawares. As well as avoiding the traps, you must also collect food regularly to avoid going hungry and therefore losing one of your five lives. Most of the traps can be negotiated with ease, although the first time you encounter a new one and are caught out, it merely increases the urge to try again. The graphics and music may be simple, but the game is really enjoyable, and it's worth playing to witness what happens when the player is killed on certain traps!

More information on TACGR

8