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R/+FOURG2

This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.

Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.

Tape/disk: Home » Personal collection » Acorn ADFS disks » Electron_User_Group » EUG_53.ADF
Filename: R/+FOURG2
Read OK: ✔
File size: 1A89 bytes
Load address: 52204556
Exec address: 4F462B2E
Duplicates

There are 2 duplicate copies of this file in the archive:

File contents
                Product:     FOUR GREAT GAMES VOLUME 2
                        Supplier:    TYNESOFT
                Available on 3.5"/5.25" DFS Disk, Tape
                   Reviewed by (the) Dave in EUG 53

ANOTHER double-cassette [Single disk - Ed] pack from Tynesoft, the 
second "Micro Value" boasting that `3.99 bought you four 'great' games
contains the instantly recognisable GUNSMOKE bundled with THE GREAT  
WALL, MOUSE TRAP and MEGA FORCE. Only the last two games were originally
released by Tynesoft but, as with the first compilation, these last 
three retailed (at least at one time) at almost double the price of the
whole package! The exception, GUNSMOKE - ironically as it's the best of
the bunch - was given away by Dixons with their Electron starter packs.
   Originally a Software Invasion release, you control the large sprite
of a gentleman cowboy in the foreground bottom of a Mode 5 screen. The
aim of the game is to take out as many cowboys in the higher-up backdrop
as possible. This backdrop is a small colourful desert town comprising a
store, saloon-cum-hotel, barn and sheriff's office. The idea is to shoot
any other cowboy lurking in or around these locations.
   It's a simple concept given a unique feel by the gun control method.
Your gun can be aimed at either a rough 45 degree or 80 degree angle, so
you may take out a bad guy on the far right by shooting from either the
far left or just right of centre respectively. As the guy is likely to
be shooting back though, it's wise to think in advance and above all do
a lot of running around to avoid shots from his friend(s).
   The game gets progressively tougher with the number of baddies 
unloading their five shooters (?!) in your general direction AT THE SAME
TIME matched by the level number. Every time you've taken out sixteen
altogether, both are incremented. It's apparently possible to have all
sixteen locations filled with bad 'uns on the last level!
   As this is all easy to grasp, the instructions given with the pack 
are pretty unfathomable wittering on, as they do, about the "Cartwright-
controlled town of Tombstone" instead of noting the game keys as one 
would expect! The game itself though is spotless with a nice layout, 
signature tune and addictive gameplay. There's even a First Byte joy-
stick option! Though the gunslingers are all in monochrome.
   Evidently employing some of Tynesoft's vocabulary a few years before,
Artic Computing attempt to sucker potential customers into a HUNCHBACK
clone by similarly describing their (familiar) wall as "great"! It 
ain't. You are a "runner" with the stomach-churning mission of crossing
512 (Yes, 512!) screens of fireballs, bouncing balls and cannon balls 
plus the obligatory small holes to leap and larger ones to cross on 
floating rafts. It's all very familiar and, far from the huge number of
screens ATTRACTING the audience (which it's meant to), considering you
frequently get deaded on the second or third one, it's actually very 
disheartening. Couple this with each screen after three mirroring one of
the ones before and you're not even close to how dull this game is.
   Playability is very poor. Everything in the game, including your 
'running' man, moves slowly but with oddly fast cannon balls shooting
over the screen so quickly you die before you mark them! If you clear a
hole but land on the edge of the wall, you still meet your maker and, as
fireballs travel from right to left, you can be frustratingly picked off
by one at head/waist height just as you reach the end of the screen. 
   Each sprite is very small (8 x 8), dull and unalluring. Each section
of wall takes a few seconds to appear. The text characters have been re-
defined awkwardly and are less readable. Each time you play you must
choose whether to have sound, whether to have music and then what piece
of music! If you have a Plus 1 attached, the game then hangs up unless
you answered N three times! And loading the game takes an eternity with
instructions and loading screens!
   It's also interesting that another Artic release, WOKS, contains 
almost exactly the same flaws, not to mention the same sprites!
   The sprites are very much improved in the next piece, MOUSE TRAP; the
first 100% machine code game written by Chris Robson. This is a very 
colourful Mode 5 romp around 22 screens of mousedom. The animation and
detail of sprites smacks of quality from the word go, with a bouncing
and shimmering title, high score table and slideshow of screens.
   Sadly, though this game may look good, its playability (while not in
the same division as THE GREAT WALL) also lets it down. Marvin the mouse
jumps from platform - and over many deadly household appliances - to
platform, and collects Christmas puddings. Unfortunately, the jump left/
right key combinations refuse to work unless you are already holding 
down the appropriate movement key before tapping the jump one. As this
is a game where near pixel-perfect negotiation of baddies is required,
this flaw's effect renders the whole game near to useless! That said, a
lot of perseverance may reward Marvin with the golden cheese he desires!
   The last game, MEGA FORCE, describes itself as "the ultimate shoot-
'em-up for the Electron". As usual, this interprets as your craft is at
the bottom shooting up at baddies at the top. Luckily, while it doesn't
really introduce anything new, this is the genre done very well.
   Sprites for both your and enemy craft are big, chunky and blow up,
when hit, quite fantastically! Your ship has a double-barrelled gun
emplacement so it's possible to blast two vertically rows of invaders,
the action set on top of very fast parallax stars, simultaneously. Nice
touches such as different zones (with different aliens to blast) plus 
spherical pods that improve your firepower when shot add to the game's
professional feel.
   Here the graphics and gameplay are tiptop but there are two other
(less serious) glitches. First, the loading screen takes a age to appear
on the display, as it is not loaded directly but 'floods' on via machine
code. Second, author Ian Collinson, for his own reasons, has not turned
off the _ cursor. Thankfully, it doesn't flash around the screen but it
can be very distracting, beating away relentlessly in the bottom right.
   Should you like good displays and nice sprites, most of these games
deliver in such respects. With playability, GUNSMOKE comes first, then
MEGA FORCE, then MOUSETRAP and at the bottom THE GREAT WALL. Still, you
will probably be left with the impression that, considering all were on
their second release, ironing out the creases before they left the Tyne-
soft unit again could have been most worthwhile.
                                                   Dave Edwards, EUG #53

00000000  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  |                |
00000010  50 72 6f 64 75 63 74 3a  20 20 20 20 20 46 4f 55  |Product:     FOU|
00000020  52 20 47 52 45 41 54 20  47 41 4d 45 53 20 56 4f  |R GREAT GAMES VO|
00000030  4c 55 4d 45 20 32 0d 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  |LUME 2.         |
00000040  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 53  |               S|
00000050  75 70 70 6c 69 65 72 3a  20 20 20 20 54 59 4e 45  |upplier:    TYNE|
00000060  53 4f 46 54 0d 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  |SOFT.           |
00000070  20 20 20 20 20 41 76 61  69 6c 61 62 6c 65 20 6f  |     Available o|
00000080  6e 20 33 2e 35 22 2f 35  2e 32 35 22 20 44 46 53  |n 3.5"/5.25" DFS|
00000090  20 44 69 73 6b 2c 20 54  61 70 65 0d 20 20 20 20  | Disk, Tape.    |
000000a0  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 52  |               R|
000000b0  65 76 69 65 77 65 64 20  62 79 20 28 74 68 65 29  |eviewed by (the)|
000000c0  20 44 61 76 65 20 69 6e  20 45 55 47 20 35 33 0d  | Dave in EUG 53.|
000000d0  0d 41 4e 4f 54 48 45 52  20 64 6f 75 62 6c 65 2d  |.ANOTHER double-|
000000e0  63 61 73 73 65 74 74 65  20 5b 53 69 6e 67 6c 65  |cassette [Single|
000000f0  20 64 69 73 6b 20 2d 20  45 64 5d 20 70 61 63 6b  | disk - Ed] pack|
00000100  20 66 72 6f 6d 20 54 79  6e 65 73 6f 66 74 2c 20  | from Tynesoft, |
00000110  74 68 65 20 0d 73 65 63  6f 6e 64 20 22 4d 69 63  |the .second "Mic|
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00000150  72 65 61 74 27 20 67 61  6d 65 73 0d 63 6f 6e 74  |reat' games.cont|
00000160  61 69 6e 73 20 74 68 65  20 69 6e 73 74 61 6e 74  |ains the instant|
00000170  6c 79 20 72 65 63 6f 67  6e 69 73 61 62 6c 65 20  |ly recognisable |
00000180  47 55 4e 53 4d 4f 4b 45  20 62 75 6e 64 6c 65 64  |GUNSMOKE bundled|
00000190  20 77 69 74 68 20 54 48  45 20 47 52 45 41 54 20  | with THE GREAT |
000001a0  20 0d 57 41 4c 4c 2c 20  4d 4f 55 53 45 20 54 52  | .WALL, MOUSE TR|
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000001c0  45 2e 20 4f 6e 6c 79 20  74 68 65 20 6c 61 73 74  |E. Only the last|
000001d0  20 74 77 6f 20 67 61 6d  65 73 20 77 65 72 65 20  | two games were |
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00000200  62 75 74 2c 20 61 73 20  77 69 74 68 20 74 68 65  |but, as with the|
00000210  20 66 69 72 73 74 20 63  6f 6d 70 69 6c 61 74 69  | first compilati|
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00000230  74 68 72 65 65 20 72 65  74 61 69 6c 65 64 20 28  |three retailed (|
00000240  61 74 20 6c 65 61 73 74  20 61 74 20 6f 6e 65 20  |at least at one |
00000250  74 69 6d 65 29 20 61 74  20 61 6c 6d 6f 73 74 20  |time) at almost |
00000260  64 6f 75 62 6c 65 20 74  68 65 20 70 72 69 63 65  |double the price|
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000002c0  74 68 65 20 62 75 6e 63  68 20 2d 20 77 61 73 20  |the bunch - was |
000002d0  67 69 76 65 6e 20 61 77  61 79 20 62 79 20 44 69  |given away by Di|
000002e0  78 6f 6e 73 20 77 69 74  68 20 74 68 65 69 72 20  |xons with their |
000002f0  45 6c 65 63 74 72 6f 6e  20 73 74 61 72 74 65 72  |Electron starter|
00000300  20 70 61 63 6b 73 2e 0d  20 20 20 4f 72 69 67 69  | packs..   Origi|
00000310  6e 61 6c 6c 79 20 61 20  53 6f 66 74 77 61 72 65  |nally a Software|
00000320  20 49 6e 76 61 73 69 6f  6e 20 72 65 6c 65 61 73  | Invasion releas|
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000003d0  68 65 72 2d 75 70 20 62  61 63 6b 64 72 6f 70 0d  |her-up backdrop.|
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00000410  64 65 73 65 72 74 20 74  6f 77 6e 20 63 6f 6d 70  |desert town comp|
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00000600  61 6e 64 20 61 62 6f 76  65 20 61 6c 6c 20 64 6f  |and above all do|
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00000880  74 21 20 54 68 65 20 67  61 6d 65 20 69 74 73 65  |t! The game itse|
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00000910  68 6f 75 67 68 20 74 68  65 20 67 75 6e 73 6c 69  |hough the gunsli|
00000920  6e 67 65 72 73 20 61 72  65 20 61 6c 6c 20 69 6e  |ngers are all in|
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00000940  45 76 69 64 65 6e 74 6c  79 20 65 6d 70 6c 6f 79  |Evidently employ|
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00000970  79 20 61 20 66 65 77 20  79 65 61 72 73 20 62 65  |y a few years be|
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000009e0  64 65 73 63 72 69 62 69  6e 67 20 74 68 65 69 72  |describing their|
000009f0  20 28 66 61 6d 69 6c 69  61 72 29 20 77 61 6c 6c  | (familiar) wall|
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00000a30  74 68 65 20 73 74 6f 6d  61 63 68 2d 63 68 75 72  |the stomach-chur|
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00000a50  63 72 6f 73 73 69 6e 67  0d 35 31 32 20 28 59 65  |crossing.512 (Ye|
00000a60  73 2c 20 35 31 32 21 29  20 73 63 72 65 65 6e 73  |s, 512!) screens|
00000a70  20 6f 66 20 66 69 72 65  62 61 6c 6c 73 2c 20 62  | of fireballs, b|
00000a80  6f 75 6e 63 69 6e 67 20  62 61 6c 6c 73 20 61 6e  |ouncing balls an|
00000a90  64 20 63 61 6e 6e 6f 6e  20 62 61 6c 6c 73 20 0d  |d cannon balls .|
00000aa0  70 6c 75 73 20 74 68 65  20 6f 62 6c 69 67 61 74  |plus the obligat|
00000ab0  6f 72 79 20 73 6d 61 6c  6c 20 68 6f 6c 65 73 20  |ory small holes |
00000ac0  74 6f 20 6c 65 61 70 20  61 6e 64 20 6c 61 72 67  |to leap and larg|
00000ad0  65 72 20 6f 6e 65 73 20  74 6f 20 63 72 6f 73 73  |er ones to cross|
00000ae0  20 6f 6e 20 0d 66 6c 6f  61 74 69 6e 67 20 72 61  | on .floating ra|
00000af0  66 74 73 2e 20 49 74 27  73 20 61 6c 6c 20 76 65  |fts. It's all ve|
00000b00  72 79 20 66 61 6d 69 6c  69 61 72 20 61 6e 64 2c  |ry familiar and,|
00000b10  20 66 61 72 20 66 72 6f  6d 20 74 68 65 20 68 75  | far from the hu|
00000b20  67 65 20 6e 75 6d 62 65  72 20 6f 66 0d 73 63 72  |ge number of.scr|
00000b30  65 65 6e 73 20 41 54 54  52 41 43 54 49 4e 47 20  |eens ATTRACTING |
00000b40  74 68 65 20 61 75 64 69  65 6e 63 65 20 28 77 68  |the audience (wh|
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00001a20  6f 75 6c 64 20 68 61 76  65 20 62 65 65 6e 20 6d  |ould have been m|
00001a30  6f 73 74 20 77 6f 72 74  68 77 68 69 6c 65 2e 0d  |ost worthwhile..|
00001a40  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20  |                |
*
00001a70  20 20 20 44 61 76 65 20  45 64 77 61 72 64 73 2c  |   Dave Edwards,|
00001a80  20 45 55 47 20 23 35 33  0d                       | EUG #53.|
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