Can you tame the Tribbles? Although it's not related to Star Trek, this game is almost certainly inspired by the furry creatures that featured in one episode. The Tribbles are continually running around the screen, and you must capture them before they reach a shower unit that will spray deadly acid over them and kill them as a result. There is a cage at the top left of the screen, which you can use to capture the Tribbles one at a time by manoeuvring a set of crosshairs and dragging the cage into the Tribble's path. Naturally, additional hazards appear to make life harder for you as the game progresses, and once ten Tribbles are lost, the game is over. Initially, it's an appealing game and easy to get into, but the sound effects are very annoying, and there is no variety in the gameplay, so it soon becomes boring to play.

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Welcome to Crazy Park - home to all sorts of gangsters, gunmen and thugs. This is a target shooting game that can only be played with MHT's Gunstick. Unfortunately, you can't play it with a keyboard or joystick. The screen scrolls horizontally, alternating between right and left and revealing a little more of Crazy Park. Throughout the game, you are faced with a barrage of bullets, bombs and knives being thrown and fired at you. The park is certainly aptly named; you'll even encounter the occasional armed helicopter! The graphics are quite detailed, if lacking a little colour, and there's a jolly tune on the menu. Although it offers nothing new over other target shooting games, the difficulty level has been judged well, and it's arguably the best game that you can get for the Gunstick.

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A bunch of aliens want to colonise a planet called Genus II. However, the people aren't very welcoming, and set them a tough test, in the form of lots of questions. Like the board game, you have to collect six wedges before the final test, but instead of rolling a die, you can choose any of dozens of planets, each with its own scenery and category. It's hard to remember which planets you should re-visit, though, and you also don't know when you're going to get the chance to collect a wedge. Despite all this randomness, the game is still fun, with cute and colourful aliens and scenery all adding to the appeal - but it's not as good as the original. (The answer to the question in the screenshot is "Sweden", by the way.)

See also: Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition.

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Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition
(Domark, 1986)

The ever-popular board game makes its way on to the CPC, featuring guest star TP. Up to six players can play, answering questions and attempting to collect wedges in all six categories. Instead of typing in the answer to each question, TP shows the answer, and you choose whether you got it right or not - no cheating, now! The graphics are a real treat and TP is cute and fun to watch and listen to; he talks in a really strange way! It's as much fun as the board game, and some questions also contain diagrams and music - things that aren't really possible in the board game. There are lots of extra questions with the game as well, and if you still can't get enough questions, you might also want to try the Baby Boomer Edition, the Young Players Edition, and for French players, the Edition Révolution. (The answer to the question in the screenshot is "hearing", by the way.)

See also: Trivial Pursuit: A New Beginning.

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If your brain is filled with knowledge of TV, films, geography, history, literature, science and sport, then you might like this trivia quiz game. Then again, you might not. There is only one aim in this 'ultimate quest', and that is to accumulate as many points as possible. Each question you are given has three possible answers, and you must choose correctly before the time limit. If your choice is correct, you get a token, and if you collect 21 tokens, you score bonus points and start collecting tokens again. However, the clock becomes faster as you get more tokens, and the game is over if you answer three questions wrongly. Normally, I like quiz games, but this one looks appallingly ugly, which doesn't make me want to play it any more than other quiz games. (The answer to the question in the screenshot is "solid carbon dioxide", by the way.)

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4

Wallie has popped down to the supermarket to collect his groceries. There are forty items on the list, but he can only carry five at a time, and has to stop at the cash desk several times to pay for his items. The supermarket consists of platforms, ladders, escalators, and lots of nasty flying creatures - it's certainly not your average shop! Sadly, the graphics are horrible and clash with each other, and it's slow and difficult to play, and you'll lose your five lives quickly. The music is well worth listening to, though.

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The sultan's daughter is held captive somewhere in the Kashba. You play Yusuf, the captain of the sultan's personal guard. If you find her within three days, the reward is... the girl herself. In this complex adventure, your task begins gathering information, but this is only the beginning. You'll have to find where to sleep, eat, buy weapons and ammunition, cope with treacherous informers, make your way through hostile quarters (which means, among other things, becoming involved in shootings) and even steal money from peaceful people you come across. Sounds great, doesn't it? Personally, I find this game too difficult (the Kashba is huge indeed) and the gameplay a bit repetitive, but I also think it's worth giving it a try, so you can judge for yourself.

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Tubaruba
(Advance, 1986)

There are silly games, and then there are really silly games, of which this is one. From what I can make out, you walk and fly around a house, collecting as much money as you can. The monsters you come across are truly zany and some of them are extremely fast, too! It's a fast and furious game with absolutely no time to take a breather; you're constantly shooting monsters and trying to dodge the missiles they fire at you. Cute graphics and bouncy music add to this to make one of the most bizarre games I've ever played!

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9

It's not a Codemasters release, but the use of the word 'simulator' is definitely misleading. You control a speedboat which has strayed into hostile enemy territory. There are eight levels, and on each of them, you must collect parts of a map that are dropped by the aeroplanes that fly overhead. You've also got to shoot or avoid submarines, 'planes and helicopters - if you are hit ten times by them, you lose one of your three lives. Crashing into the shore is not a good idea, either! The graphics are adequate and the sound effects are all right, although the music on the menu is fairly good, but it's too difficult to avoid taking hits, and the waterways are quite narrow as well.

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4

This game isn't bad at all - in fact, it's really rather good. Fly your helicopter around 31 screens, destroying bricks, tanks, 'planes, guns and other things. There are two types of weapons you can use; there's the standard missiles, and bouncing bombs - just be careful with these, as they can easily bounce back at you! You've also got to squeeze your helicopter through some very narrow gaps and be very precise. It sounds like a difficult game, but a little practice will get you through the first few screens easily. The colourful graphics and good sound effects help to make this a simple but addictive game.

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