Yabba Dabba Doo!
(Grandslam, 1988)

Fred has to build a house from stones that are lying about the place. He has to collect rocks and stones and throw them into the tip to build the house, and once the house has been built, Wilma must be found. Of course, there are plenty of monsters to watch out for. It's not exactly exciting stuff; almost everything about the game is terrible. The graphics and sound are awful, and the game seems to consist of plodding back and forth from the tip to the building site, without knowing what you should do after the house has been built. At least there's a good rendition of the theme tune on the menu.

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Rik McQuick was piloting his spaceship, the Odour-Eater II, to the planet of Minogue when it strayed off course towards another planet and was shot down by a missile from the planet's defence systems. After Rik has recovered from his hangover, he finds himself on the planet's surface, next to the ship's escape pod. Remember, people, never drink and drive! This is a text adventure that has been created with GAC, and it's reasonably good. There is a lot of humour in the game, which has clearly been influenced by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The pictures that accompany some of the locations aren't up to much, but if you like your text adventures with added humour, it's worth looking at.

See also: Yarkon Blues II: Space Station Zebra.

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Rik McQuick has acquired a new spaceship, but he falls asleep during the journey. When he wakes up, he finds himself docked on Space Station Zebra. All of its inhabitants have fled, which is not surprising, because the life support systems are badly damaged and the entire station will soon explode... The humour that featured in Yarkon Blues is maintained throughout both parts of this two-part GAC text adventure. This sequel also sees the introduction of two characters that you can interact with, and there is even a flashback to the start of Yarkon Blues, which is a nice touch. However, the first part is rather short and underwhelming in comparison with the second part. If the pictures were removed from the first part and more text added, this game could have been a bit better – but it's still fairly good as it is.

See also: Yarkon Blues.

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Jim Hacker has become Prime Minister, and in this computer version of the BBC TV comedy, you have to survive until the end of the week. Throughout the week, you receive memos and faxes and take 'phone calls from various people, and attend meetings with your colleagues Bernard Woolley and Sir Humphrey Appleby. In these conversations, you make decisions from a choice of options, which affects your rating in the polls. The game is mostly text-based, although there are some graphics of your office, and digitised pictures of the main characters. If you're a fan of the show, you'll be familiar with the language used in the game, and even if you're not, you may enjoy this humorous parody of British politics.

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Yie Ar Kung-Fu
(Imagine, 1985)

Oolong has vowed to achieve the same level of mastery in kung-fu as his father, and become a Grand Master. However, he must defeat eight opponents in combat. Each opponent has a different fighting style and weapon, and you must work out the most appropriate methods of attack to use against each one. With a total of sixteen moves available, it will take a bit of practice to master them all, and it is initially frustrating as Buchu, your first opponent, lands blow after blow upon you. Persevere, though, and you'll find a pretty good beat-'em-up with lovely graphics and animation, as well as suitably Oriental music – although I would recommend using a joystick instead of the keyboard.

See also: Yie Ar Kung Fu II.

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One of the most popular karate games of the 1980s was Yie Ar Kung-Fu. The CPC version had speed, it had awesome karate killing moves galore, it had a range of interesting and deadly opponents; it just had a great karate feel to it, but as so often occurs, when a sequel is released, it rarely lives up to the original. I found Yie Ar Kung Fu II to be as far away as possible from the original as I've seen in a sequel. The game itself no longer resembles the true karate fighting spirit I once loved and enjoyed immensely. Your character is not a mean, lean, fighting machine but a very slow and annoying blob of a sprite. The sound effects are quite awful and there's no grab factor or enjoyment playing this game, and I'm really gutted that the sequel turned out to be so poor.

See also: Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

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Boo Boo has been captured, and Yogi is determined to rescue him. Yogi must reach the hunter's cabin at the other side of the park and collect eight toffee apples. These contain clues so that Yogi can avoid setting off the alarm. The park consists of about 200 screens, but you can skip them by entering caves. There are lots of nasty enemies (both humans and animals) to watch out for, too! The graphics are average and there are some cute tunes as well, but the geysers and other creatures that appear randomly can throw you into a hole or river, needlessly wasting a life or two. If you persevere, though, you might like it.

See also: Yogi Bear and Friends, Yogi's Great Escape.

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6

The Greed Monster has stolen a haul of toys, and Yogi Bear and his friends set out to retrieve them. Unfortunately, all of Yogi's friends are captured and taken away to the Greed Monster's castle. Therefore, Yogi must collect the toys, as well as 30 coins, enter the castle and rescue his friends. The toys and coins are scattered around the map and are easy to find, and there are other power-ups to collect. There are also coloured keys which will release your friends, although you can only carry one key at a time. The graphics are colourful, although there is very little sound throughout the game. It's aimed at younger players, so older players may find it a bit easy. It's still OK, though, even if the idea of stunning monsters by throwing sweets at them is rather strange.

See also: Yogi Bear, Yogi's Great Escape.

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Yogi and his little chum Boo Boo have learnt that Jellystone Park is to close, so they decide to make their way to New York to tell the President of the USA. Well, Yogi is smarter than your average bear! There are six levels to go through, with the usual assortment of bonuses to collect (which are different for each level), and there are some hidden bonuses as well. The graphics are marvellous and all the enemies are animated very well. The sound effects are good, too, and overall, it's a thoroughly good platform game.

See also: Yogi Bear, Yogi Bear and Friends.

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