Livingstone
(Opera Soft, 1986)
Reviewed by Guillaume Chalard

You're Stanley, the famous explorer, and you must find Dr. Livingstone in a jungle full of traps. Snakes, coconut-throwing monkeys, and pits are part of the joys of your trip. You can use a knife, a pole, grenades and a boomerang to clear your way. Well, this is a nice, colourful and funny game. Of course, it is much too hard (like any Spanish game), because every time you're struck by a coconut, an eagle catches you and brings you back to the beginning of the level. There are also creatures that appear randomly in the caves, and you can't avoid them, which is rather despairing. It's a funny game, anyway...

See also: Livingstone Supongo II.

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6

Morton Stanley is back in the jungle – this time geared with a whip, grenades, a boomerang and of course, a pole. The game has two parts which load separately. On the first one, you have to collect several sacred stones. Then, you'll have to meet the sorcerer of a tribe. The graphics of this game are just great – large, colourful, well animated and featuring multi-directional scrolling. The music is almost the same that played in the first game, and the sound effects are quite good. However, keep in mind who released this game (the same guys who programmed Mutan Zone, Sol Negro and Ulises), and be prepared to lose your temper when a monkey suddenly steals your pole, or when you lose all your lives trying to jump on to the back of a hippopotamus.

See also: Livingstone.

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8

We've all met those sliding tile puzzle games. In this game, however, the tiles contain bits of railway track that have to be joined together so that a train can get from one side of the screen to the other. Unfortunately, there's hardly any time for you to make decisions as the train moves too fast, and even the panic button, where the train temporarily stops so you can get on with creating a track, doesn't last long enough. Simple graphics and very good sound effects can't cover the fact that this game is far too difficult.

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3

Not a lot of people know this, but this all-time classic game was released for the CPC, albeit much later than its original release back in 1983. I don't recall it being released in the UK, though. Anyway, you are Jake Peril, and must collect all the treasure on each screen – and there are 150 screens to work your way through! The treasure is guarded by the Mad Monks, who will follow you as you walk along the platforms and climb up and down the ladders. However, after a few goes, you may be able to find out how to avoid them. You can also dig holes so that the monks fall into them, but be careful that you don't fall into them yourself! The graphics have been enhanced, but they still retain the feel of the original game. The same goes for the gameplay, which still retains all of its charm.

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8

A puzzle game where your aim is, as the name suggests, to create loops out of various shapes – L-, S- and U-shaped wedges and straight lines, big and small. There are three types of game to play; a free-for-all where you can simply create whatever loops you want, another where you must achieve a certain target score to progress to the next level, and one where on each level, you are shown a more complex loop, and have to reconnect some pieces which are removed from it. This latter game is the real test, and after the first ten levels, you'll need a really good memory to put the loop back together again. Needless to say, if you're not a fan of puzzle games, this game isn't going to interest you, but the graphics are fairly good, there are three tunes to listen to, and there's a password system as well.

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8

Lop Ears is a little bunny who ventured out to play, but he wandered a long way from home. Sadly, the authorities have built a bypass across the land, and poor little Lop Ears has to find another way home – so can you help him? Now, come on, you can't leave a lovely bunny rabbit all on his own! This is an arcade adventure in which you collect objects and try to find uses for them, much like the Dizzy series. Watch out for other animals, such as dogs, squirrels and weasels, who will deplete your energy – even other rabbits don't like you. That's not very nice, is it? The graphics are quite good, although they lack colour, but the animation is marvellous. There is also no sound at all during the game. However, there are enough puzzles to keep you occupied for a while, although there are some annoying situations where you can die instantly.

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6

Lorna is a sexy blonde girl who is the creation of the Spanish artist Alfonso Azpiri. She starred in a few Spanish comics, which were certainly not suitable for children! Well, she has huge breasts and wears almost nothing... As Lorna, you have to battle her way through a swamp, a cave and a forest, to reach a temple. Once you enter the temple, you must find the six pieces of Lorna's robot and then assemble them. On three of these levels, you are armed with a gun. There are a lot of aliens to kill, and you can use either the butt of the gun, or shoot them – although your ammunition is very limited. This makes the game rather difficult. The graphics are colourful, but there is very little sound and the gameplay becomes slightly tedious after a few goes.

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7

You take control of a three-man squad of the LA SWAT team, who have been pressed into action to ease the riots occurring in the streets. Several criminals have taken over the streets and must be stopped. This game was released as a budget title, and a poor one it was. Poor presentation leads to a slow push-scroll affair where you move upwards trying to shoot and avoid the randomly generated criminals. After around two full screens of sluggish scrolling, a stand-off occurs, leading to a new level that looks like the last. Did I mention there's no sound!

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0

Lost Caves and the Tomb of Doom
(Players, 1989)

Written by Amstrad Action's Adam Waring, this is a maze game where you have to collect ten diamonds, whilst avoiding the falling boulders which you have to set loose during your explorations. There are also lots of guardians on the lookout for you. One version of the game has a built-in cheat to let you select any level you want, which is a good thing, as it's impossible to get off the first level – and indeed, all the others. There are some good graphics and the tune is reasonable, but the guardians are far too hard to avoid.

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4

Get ready to compete in the Lotus Challenge with fifteen other competitors as you attempt to score points in various tracks in every corner of the world. There are three difficulty levels with seven, ten and fifteen tracks in each respectively, and each has their own characteristics. You'll need to be really good to win races, although it's possible to win the championship without winning any races! On some tracks, you might need to pit for fuel as well. In short, this is the best racing game on the CPC. The graphics may not be stunning, but the scrolling is really fast and you really feel like you're doing 140mph. The music and sound effects are good as well.

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