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CONAN
US
Gold/Datasoft, £14.95 disk, joystick only
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O
Seven screens of platform
action |
The
latest addition to US Gold's 'Famous Faces' range puts
you in the surreal world of the film character Conan
the Barbarian. In a similar fashion to Bruce Lee
you have to work your way through various platform screens
to seek and destroy the villainous Volta.
On
each of the seven screens there is an exit. On the first
two screens it is clearly marked and all you have to
do is run and jump your way to it. After level two you
start having to collect gems and put them in their holders
before being able to go out of the screen. Sometimes
a door may unlock or something may appear that you can
ride on, which will take you to the exit.
The
first few screens of the game are reasonably easy, but
later on the going gets very tough, as you have to ride
on bubbles and destroy dragons. On levels six and seven
there are Van Der Graff generators and stars which need
to be struck with your sword before turning into gems.
Conan
has to get from the top right to the bottom
left using the tree platforms and ladders. Watch
out for the water and the spikes though.
You
have three men and ten swords at the start, but you
have a chance to earn more of these on later levels.
You can do this by picking up the swords lying around
and catching the friendly bird which flaps about the
more inaccessible part of the screen.
The
graphics are pathetic -- they wouldn't go amiss on a
1982 game. Indeed, they appear to have been designed
by a ZX81 graphics programmer, as the main character
features an annoying flicker. The sound is disappointing
too: the actual notes are great, but voices used are
unimaginative, reedy and grating.
Animation
is appalling -- Conan looks more like a 70s trendy:
he's wearing bell ends and has long hair. The various
nasty creatures trundle about with hardly a pixel moving,
and the scenery is drab with few colours and details.
JR
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