Colossus 4 Chess
(CDS, 1986)

Chess has never been my forte, and it shows when I'm playing against the computer in this game. Be warned – it plays a pretty mean game! However, it is very customisable, although there aren't any menus; you'll just have to remember which keys to press. You can also see your previous moves, and a nice touch is that you can see the computer thinking ahead, and what move it thinks you're going to make. The perspective view of the board is great as well, although you can change it to the 2D view. A lot of people reckon this is the best chess program on the CPC, and it's not hard to see why.

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Four beings – a World War II fighter pilot, a devil, a miner and an albino gorilla – have been mysteriously transported to another world. Each one begins the game in a different zone – a military base, a cemetery, a mine or a jungle – but their minds and bodies are linked, which means that you can change the character you are controlling and swap them between zones. Understanding their characteristics and knowing which one to select in any given situation is vital in order to progress in this platform game. However, the game constantly changes the zone you are currently in every few seconds, just to make things more confusing! The gameplay is not as complicated as it seems, although it's easy to select the wrong character when you're losing lots of energy. On the other hand, the graphics are very colourful and appealing.

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The three planets belonging to the XATOR Confederation – Zorak, Alfard and Grisum – have been taken over by intelligent androids, and the only way to remove them is to destroy the planets. It seems a rather drastic solution! Explosive devices have been placed on each of the planets, and you have to arm them by flying around the planets and collecting batteries to insert into them; each device requires three colours of battery. This game was re-released in the UK as The Last Commando, and it's a very good space shoot-'em-up indeed. The graphics and music are both up to Dinamic's high standards, although completing the game requires a lot of luck as well as skill.

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Combat School
(Ocean, 1987)

The Elite Marine Corps are the toughest army in the USA, and you're aiming to be recruited and join their ranks. You'll have to complete some gruelling events first to show your strength, including an assault course, three firing ranges, an iron man race, arm wrestling, and lastly, a fight with your combat instructor. If you beat him, you're in, and you'll be sent on a mission to rescue a hostage in a US embassy. This is one of those joystick-waggling (or perhaps that should be joystick-wrecking) games, and in all the times I've tried it, I've managed to complete the assault course once. Nice graphics, nice tunes; shame that it's far too tough. If you're strong enough to tackle the assault course, you're probably good enough for the real thing!

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Colonel John D. Mentor has been called out of retirement to enter the Combat Zone. Flying your spacecraft through six levels, you must destroy ten enemy installations (represented as flashing objects on the ground) on each level using your unlimited supply of bombs, while simultaneously firing bullets at waves of alien enemies. Other ground targets can also be bombed to give you extra fuel; if you run out of fuel, the game ends. This is a fairly standard vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up with bright, colourful graphics, although this means that enemy fire can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from the backgrounds. However, the sound effects are poor, and the game is too easy – a fact that even the game's authors seem to acknowledge when you complete the final level!

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The return of Halley's Comet was big news in 1986, and this game sees you attempting to become the first spacecraft to land on the comet itself – but you've got to fly through a long obstacle course before you reach the comet. Starting at the top of the screen, you must guide the spacecraft through the scenery and dodge the moving aliens. However, on many screens, there's very little room to manoeuvre, as you will discover when (if?) you reach the fourth screen, which I found impossible to complete. The graphics, while lacking in colour, actually aren't all that bad, although there are only two or three sound effects. Anyway, the game is much too difficult.

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The Comet Game
(Firebird, 1986)

This game was supposed to have been released in time for the appearance of Halley's Comet, but the deadline was missed. Anyway, a manned probe has been sent to explore the surface of the comet, and while it's on its way there, you have to complete twenty tasks, picked at random from five sub-games ranging from playing with electrical circuits to making the tea! Complete a task and you're OK; fail and the game is over. Most of the games are enjoyable, but it's such a chore having to play them over and over again. It would be nice if you could actually pilot the probe.

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It's one man against an army as you go it alone and advance into enemy lines and try to reach the fortress, as bullets, grenades and rockets explode all around you – there's no way you're going to retreat. You have to try and replenish your own supply of grenades as you're doing this, too. From the first moment you start the game, you'll be shocked at the amount of action going on – there's no time to take a breather here. The graphics are OK but are a bit blocky, while the music, again reasonable, becomes irritating – and where's the rat-tat-tat of gunfire? It's a good game, but a bit too difficult for my liking.

See also: Duet.

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In the old days, families would gather around at Christmas time to play some traditional board games. This is a compilation of four games – Snakes and Hazards, Xmas Ludo, Shove a Sledge and Tiddly Drinks. The first two are variations of well known board games, while the other two are very different, and so awful that they're not worth looking at. Up to four people can play a game, but unfortunately you can't play against the computer, and playing a board game on your own is not exactly fun. The graphics are reasonable, and there are some excellent renditions of Christmas carols, but there's nothing else to get excited about.

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5

The famous word game comes to the CPC, as you play against a friend or the computer and try to score points by thinking of the most obscure words imaginable. The computer's dictionary isn't all that big, so there's lots of room for cheating. However, the game is far too slow. OK, so is the real thing; but what I mean is that the computer waits for an eternity after you make your choices, and it's the same with the other games in the Leisure Genius range. The one sound effect that is used is horrible, too.

See also: Computer Scrabble Deluxe.

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