Arcade Action - C+VG Issue 1 (Nov 1981)

Beat The Machine
The "Ghosts" that inhabit the Mazeman type of arcade machine go by many names but, whatever you are invited to call them, most players find a few more names of their own.

The machine itself varies in title from Pacman, Puckman or Picman to the more descriptive Mazeman. But whatever the name of the machine you have been cussing over, the tips to help you achieve a high score remain the same. Here are some hints to help you increase your fruit yield at the bottom of the screen.

Firstly it is important to develop an opening strategy for the early "walls" (each cleared screen generates a new "wall"). Study the early movements of the ghosts and you will see that these only vary if you go very close to them. Experiment to find a path which will each time keep you clear of them for longest and finally lead you, with the ghosts in close pursuit, to a flashing dot.

Good tips for this are to clear the bottom row as this is the easiest place to get trapped. You will only manage to do this in the first two walls. Then change your route for the third wall but still make sure you clear at least half of that bottom line. The ghosts speed up again for the fifth wall so a new opening strategy will be needed tor this one. Good opening gambits leave both the flashing dots at the bottom of the screen to last - insurance for the time you get caught with a half-finished wall.

When you come around to those final few dots, be patient. Key areas of the screen here are the tunnel, through which you travel much faster than the Mazeman ghosts. If you can lead three through here it should provide enough time to tidy up the screen.

Another important area is the network directly above the ghosts' base. With a cool head you can manoeuvre this part of the maze with ghosts in close attendance and still stay out of danger - there is also a possibility of swooping down to swallow a fruit when one appears.

When you do find yourself trapped in a corner, (at the top and bottom of the screen the ghosts travel faster than you can) a violent change of direction will work wonders.

If the position looks really hopeless a vigorous shake of the lever can confuse the ghosts and send them off in different directions. Remove drinks from on top of the machine when employing this tactic.

Now let me give you some-thing to aim for. After a run of various fruits - worth more for each wall - a creature I can only describe as a "Galaxian" appears on the screen. This wall, when cleared, rewards you with an intriguing little display involving the red ghost.

FLAW SHOW

Two interesting little programming flaws can be found in the Mazeman game. If you persuade your friends to devote the money for a little experimentation you may be able to re-create them on a screen.

It is possible to send an errant pair of eyes flitting around the area of screen just above the ghosts' base.

This can be achieved, sometimes, if you catch a ghost just as he emerges from his base and eat him. This must be attempted early in a wall, by eating a flashing dot and then speeding to the exit of the ghosts' base, to consume the ghost as he bounces out.

It is also possible to turn the ghosts bright orange. This often occurs when you eat a ghost just as he turns from a flashing blue consumable back to his normal colour. Of course, trying this automatically means you lost a life.

STREET TALK

A collection of machine slang or strange expressions overheard while watching people play the Mazeman variety of game. Complete with a likely interpretation of the meaning.


 * A monster munch - eating all four ghosts to score a 1,600 point bonus.
 * An expensive fruit - caught by a ghost after being tempted to eat a fruit.
 * Get them in the nest - trying to eat the ghosts while they are still inside their base (a rather pointless exercise as you can't get in).
 * Fangs in the backside job - escaping after a ghost seemed certain to catch you.

Sea-Space Mission
Cosmic Avenger sends you off on a hazardous mission, through space and along undersea passages to destroy the enemy's secret station.

Among the dangers you will have to overcome are tanks, U.F.O.s mines, submarines, missile stations and the task is made ever more difficult as you approach the secret base.

The game is along the lines of Defender with your craft starting off on the wide plains facing anti-aircraft fire from guns and tanks.

The enemy's chase missiles are fired from impressive installations built well off the ground or, in the underwater caverns, from rocky niches above you.

Their missiles will chase your craft and their hit rate is high so beware. U.F.O.s are another menace of the air but are equipped with radar to help you see them approaching.

In the sea, the enemies submarine missiles and his own subs are just some of the problems, as mines and depth bombs feature along the route you have to take.

Depending on the maliciousness of your local arcade owner you will find yourself with 2-5 lives and one of four levels of difficulty.

Join the Space Pilot Elite
Mastering the Omega Race will number you among the known galaxies' elite space fighter pilots.

For this training method was invented originally by the Omega Star System to make its pilots the most respected force around.

Sitting in the cockpit of your craft, the city of Komar panoramically spread below you, you must engage and destroy the android forces and the mines they have planted in your path.

The player uses a guidance control knob to steer his craft and a thrust button for force to take his craft into the energy field. As the alien droid fleet and its mines fill your screen, pressing the fire button sends out deadly laser rays to destroy the enemy targets.

Photon and Vapor mines are worth 350 and 500 points respectively. Droid Ships bring you 1,000 points and the Command Ships 1,500.

Most dangerous is the enemy Death Ship which appears at random and had far greater speed and manoeuvrability than the rest of the targets. Its tactic is to bump and demolish the Omega Fighter.

Bonus Omega Fighters are awarded for high scores and top scores are kept on the screen for all to challenge. The backdrop of this game, which is distributed by Bally U.K., is impressive but the ship and mine graphics are disappointing by present standards.

The Fantasy Generation
Monsters and magicians bring fantasy to the world of arcade games in the highly original Wizard of Wor.

It also brings back the ping-pong video games idea of letting two players loose on the controls simultaneously, so giving the feeling that this game is man against man, rather than man against machine.

It does not dictate that you have to fight one another and will allow teamwork against the strange monsters which inhabit the Dungeons of Wor.

Players control a separate squadron of "worriors" - blue or yellow clad humanoids dressed in space suits and armed with "unified field-disturbance rifles".

They venture out into the dungeons, a maze of passages of random design with escape doors at either end, with a view to destroying the monsters which inhabit the labyrinths.

There are four kinds of monster plus the Wizard himself. The blue Burwors are worth 100 points each and six of them inhabit the first dungeon. When all six are shot, yellow Garwors - 200 points and often invisible - and speedy red Thorwors - 500 points - join the battle.

When all are killed the next maze appears containing more monsters to shoot or eat the worriors. The opposing worriors are also allowed to shoot one another's men for 1,000 points.

This time a Worluk, the Wizard's favourite, flies through the dungeon when the last Thorwor is shot. If either player can shoot this creature before he escapes it means double points on the next dungeon.

That may prompt the Wizard to appear, teleporting at magical speed and hurling lightning bolts at the players.

Throughout the game the Wizard talks to the players over the sounds of battle and a haunting melody which adds to the dungeon mood.

A radar screen enables the player to keep a check on invisible monsters and this becomes more critical as the dungeons become more spacious.

A Midway game distributed here by Bally U.K., Wizard of Wor has brought a new world of fantasy to arcade games.

Return of the Mekon
Remember the evil Mekon? A little green creature with a large head who hovered on a saucer and was to Dan Dare what the Daleks are to Doctor Who.

Well, a similarly sinister creature — albeit with only one eye — turns up in the new arcade game of Space Fury to insult your playing ability, boast of the superiority of his battle forces and generally give the player a difficult time.

At the end of the game he will give his honest, if patronising, opinion on what kind of opposition you provided for him to test his forces.

The game is similar to a colourful asteroids except that the opposition is provided by the one-eyed monstrosity's battle fleet.

These are a variety of whirling dervishes which are harmless until they have joined together to form a larger space craft and will then either ram your own craft or fire an accurate orange bomb towards you.

When you have demolished his first collection of unlikely-looking space ships with your own rather ordinary craft, this video Mekon expresses his surprise at your survival and assures you that his next fleet will finish the job.

One novel feature of the game is that you are invited to dock with a new spacecraft which will help you tackle the next battle.

You dock with the craft you think best-suited to the next conflict.

Plenty of scope for tactics in this game so long as you can live with being described as a mediocre or, more commonly, adequate, opponent.

This Sega game is distributed over here by Alca Electronics of Manchester.