GROG'S
REVENGE
US
Gold/Sierra on Line, £9.95 cass, £14.95
disk, joystick only
|
O Thor
returns for more enjoyable cartoon action |
After
the exhausting task of rescuing his loved one in BC's
Quest for Tires, the stone-age cartoon hero Thor
is out and about again, this time to find the meaning
of life. It is said to be found atop an ancient mountain,
the last in a range of five. A network of caves run
through the very mountains themselves, and a long and
winding track runs around them.
Linking
each of the mountains are toll bridges that Thor must
cross, getting him a step nearer to his goal. This is
where his problems start. . . .
On
screen, the mountains are shown one at a time on a small
radar in the bottom right. On this radar are shown all
cave entrances, a symbol representing Thor, and one
of Grog. The part of the mountain Thor is currently
on is shown on the top half of the screen in reasonable
graphical detail. It scrolls left to right, depending
on the direction he's going in. The scrolling is smooth
but does get a little jerky at a higher speed.

To
cross a toll bridge, Thor must pay the exorbitant sum
of 100 clams to a waiting toll-man. Luckily, the mountains
have a plentiful supply of clams lying around, and in
case you've never seen a clam on a mountain, you should
know that these are lesser-spotted craggy peak clams.
The clams are to be found on the tracks running around
the mountain or within the caverns. The caves are dark
and so a source of light is needed to see the way through.
Thor, being way ahead of his time, carries a flashlight
with him. Unfortunately, the torch isn't very powerful
and only a small amount of the screen is shown under
its light. This effect is very realistic and makes the
going tough on higher levels.
To
pick up a clam, Thor must ride over it on his stone-age
unicycle (equipped this time with a tire). Once he has
collected 100 or more, he can take them to the toll
bridge and move on to the next mountain.
If
Thor should have 25 or more clams over the quota, he
will buy an extra life -- there are five to start.
The
levels are lettered A to E, E being the final stage
containing the secret of the meaning of life. Should
you get that far, you will discover the programmer is
something of a cynic. You'll also discover that the
only thing left to do is to try again on a harder range
of mountains (there are three in all).
GP
.
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