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As you might have guessed, Time Tunnel is all
about travelling through time. But did you guess that
it's an arcade adventure starring a gnome? No? Well
stroll on clever clogs, because it is. Anyway, playing
that Gnome you must recover the parts of a map which,
when assembled, explains how he can become Gnome king.
The pieces are scattered throughout history, so quite
a bit of travelling needs to be done before the task
is completed.
To
recover the map you have to solve seven torturous puzzles
within the game (one in each time zone). These puzzles
are completed by using the various objects found in
different times. Quite a few of the puzzle-solving items
need to be taken from one period of history to another
before a problem can be solved -- quite a hefty task.
One
of the most impressive backdrops -- Mythological Greece.
The
game commences with the Gnome relaxing in his living
room in Gnome Mansion. Starting from here you must first
get the time machine operational before you are able
to whizz off through time. The Gnome is completely joystick
controlled and can accomplish quite a few actions, depending
on the situation he's in. Objects can be picked up,
dropped, set in motion or moved if he's standing near
them (doors, lifts etc). Also, a lightning bolt can
be fired when facing left or right. However, the Gnome
has a problem as he can only carry one object at a time,
but don't despair -- Gnome has a closet! This can be
entered by holding down the fire button for a few seconds.
An object can then be dropped there for retrieval later
in the game, but unfortunately only eight items can
be left in the closet at once. The closet can be called
up at any time, no matter where Gnome is in history.
Once
you have the time machine fully operational, the adventure
proper can begin. There are seven varied and very different
periods of time to be visited -- eight if you include
the present The seven time zones are the Slone Age (9,600
BC), Magical Persia (893 BC), Mythological Greece (86
BC), Colonial Salem (1692), California Gold Rush (1849),
Intergalactic Spaceship (3456) and finally The Black
Hole (9999). The various locations in each period 'flick'
when moving from one to the other.
There
are many objects within each time zone, but the player
must sort out the wheat from the chaff before being
able to solve the puzzles. The instructions give some
clues about what you're supposed to do in each period,
but if you really get stuck then you can send off to
US Gold for a hint sheet (although it does cost fifty
pence).
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It
would be so easy just to slag Time
Tunnel.
Graphically it is awful and in the audio dept
things aren't much better, but there's something
about it that makes you want to keep on playing.
Weird. One of the nice points about Time
Tunnel
is the gnome's ability to interact wish the background
quite freely. The 'obscure obviousness' of the
solutions is great, so you really feel like you've
achieved something when a puzzle is solved. I
wouldn't actually recommend Time
Tunnel
to anyone other than a real arcade adventurer,
but there is some addictive streak in it if you
feel that you can bear to play a game without
mega graphics and sound; and if you haven't lost
sight of the fact that in the end you buy a game
just for that, then this may be one for you.
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Presentation 61%
Large, informative and colourful poster-style
instructions, but not much else.
Graphics
44%
Poor sprites and generally simple,
drab backdrops, although some are very good.
Sound
23%
The volume knob on the telly is
a God-send.
Hookability
60%
Although it doesn't look anything
special and you know it isn't, there is some initial
appeal.
Lastability
51%
The game is quite addictive
and the puzzles aren't overly difficult, but they
are rewarding to solve.
Value
For Money 43%
Overpriced for what it has to offer.
Overall
49%
A barely average arcade adventure.
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