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Never mind the quality
CUT-PRICE software inevitably begs the question of whether the games are any good. Mastertronic produces what, at £1.99, are the cheapest so far.

Gnasher is a Pac-Man derivative. The graphics are the conventional ones of maze, yellow Pac-Man and multicoloured ghosts. All the usual features are included - power pills, bonus fruit, two-player option and so on. The joystick response was slightly slow and sticky but if you must have Pac-Man in your lounge, you might as well save a few pounds and buy Gnasher.

Spectipede is rather more exhilarating to play, although that might reflect the virtues of the excellent arcade game Centipede rather than those of Mastertronic. Again, there is little of originality but the game is a fast version of the standard, with spiders, toadstools and multiple levels.

Also available is a darts simulation, Bullseye. The game is slow to play, much of it being written in Basic, and it is not very user-friendly, as it is possible to get into Basic by making a mistake when pressing the wrong keys.

That said, the game provides five versions of darts, including Cricket, 501 and Killer. There are also three ways of playing a shot; you can either state what you are aiming at, position a cursor on the appropriate part of the board, or enter the angle and distance of your shot.

The cover picture shows three dart-shaped spaceships homing-in on a red star. When you realise the nature of the game you can understand the point of the cover but it might well tempt the incautious lover of space games into buying something unwanted.




GNASHER Memory: 16K Price: £1.99 Joystick: Kempston Gilbert Factor: 4
SPECTIPEDE Memory: 16K Price: £1.99 Joystick: Kempston Gilbert Factor: 5
BULLSEYE Memory: 48K Price: £1.99 Joystick: Kempston Gilbert Factor: 4

There's little to surprise in this game - the name says it all. Spectipede offers the full scope of the arcade original with centipedes, spiders, fleas, scorpions, mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. On higher levels there are two centipedes to contend with. The players may move the firing base upwards for the traditional tour squares to avoid segments of pede which make it to the bottom. Segments will also fall straight to the bottom if they pass over a poisonous mushroom. Spectipede may be played by 1 or 2 players.



CRITICISM
'It's odd to see that the cheapest 'Centipede' type game available for the Spectrum is also the best of all those around. Graphics are excellent, true to the original arcade version, they are clear, very detailed, well animated and have excellent use of colour. The keys are well positioned and movement is responsive and fast. This is clearly a well thought out game with good demo, instructions and sound. It's worth every penny of £1.99 - a Mastertronic winner.'

'There are so many versions of the venerable creepie about that it's hard to see why anyone should want to put out anymore. However, this is the cheapest around, and it's certainly up with the best and most expensive. It has all the proper details and fast moving graphics. The scorpion even flashes different colours - not much seen on the Spectrum. As to the game itself, well when it s well done, as here, 'Centipede' games are still a good, fast and enervating shoot em up worth anyone's half hour between times.'

'A good 'Centipede' can be very addictive to play, and Mastertronics have a very good version here. The only thing is that the game is so old hat now, I wonder whether anyone's that interested any more? But if you are, then at its price, this is certainly the one to buy. For once, a low price provides a good version, but I think the price also reflects the age of the game itself.'

COMMENTS
Control keys: CAPS/Z left/right, KIM up/down, L to fire; or cursor keys and 0 or 9 to fire
Joystick: Mikrogen, Kempston, Cursor type
Keyboard play: sensible keys and responsive
Use of colour: very good
Graphics: small, one-character size, but detailed and fast
Sound: very good, continuous
Skill levels: progressive difficulty
Lives: 3
General Rating: We suspect a re-release, but if you haven't got a 'Centipede' type game in your collection, well worth its price.

Use of Computer 75%
Graphics 66%
Playability 78%
Getting Started 55%
Addictive Qualities 72%
Value For Money 82%
Overall 72%