UP'N'DOWN
US Gold, £9.95 cass, £12.95 disk, joystick or
keys
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Jumping car, scrolling roads, amusing action |
This
isn't a game for boys or girls, it's for grannies. If
that sounds bad you couldn't be further from the truth,
because the granny in this game can jump more cars than
Eddie Kidd and even crush them as well.
In
your buggy car that looks like a Citroen 2CV (the corrugated
iron one), you play a granny who has to drive around
a pattern of scrolling roadways collecting coloured
flags. Nothing to it, until you find that the roads
are only one lane wide and all the traffic is trying
to ram you so that you have to jump your car to avoid
or crush them.
The
streets zig-zag about the screen, occasionally going
up or down hills and over chasms, through a scenery
of mountains, lakes, rivers and woods.
There
are ten flags to collect on each stage, and they appear
in the same places each time. However, on the different
levels the layout changes (although some sections and
flag positions may still be recognisable). Other objects,
including ice creams and balloons, are lying around
the course, and running over them gets you bonus points.
Granny
a split second away from another kill
-- but can she then get safely up the slope?
There
are three levels of play, and on the easiest there is
little to get in your way, but it will take a while
to determine the route to each flag. Also appearing
on the roads are a variety of vehicles ragging from
slow moving cars like yours, to fast moving tankers
and lorries. All of these have to be jumped over or
crushed for points by landing on them.
You
have to be careful though, since on the ground collisions
are fatal and landing off the road also writes you off.
You can jump gaps if you time things right and, to get
fast finishing times and the subsequent bonus, you need
to really cover ground.
You
can go backwards if in desperate trouble, but it leaves
you vulnerable since you can't jump. You are also hindered
by rolling back down hills if you haven't got up enough
speed, and on later stages flags appear on moving trollies
which you have to crush.
Following
the roads is just a matter of pushing left or right
at junctions, while joystick forward and back controls
acceleration and deceleration and the fire button makes
you jump.
One
helpful thing is that you can also control the car during
the jumps to avoid suicidal leaps. The music that burbles
along during the game is repetitive, but curiously it
still adds an absorption factor to the game and doesn't
annoy.
BW
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