STORMING OUT
Arcades news from The Sales Curve, best known for
converting The Ninja Warriors and Continental Circus for
Virgin. It’s launching its own software label called Storm
with one original title and three arcade licences. The original game is
SWIV! Take control of a helicopter or jeep and blast your way across
level after level of hostile terrain. Tanks, helicopters, jeeps, jets and huge
multi-part ’copters all want your hide (eek!). Expect to see
SWIV in October.
The first Storm arcade conversion, around September time, is
Saint Dragon. Taken from the Jaleco coin-op, you’re the
pilot of a futuristic spacecraft shaped like a giant dragon on a quest to
rescue a real fire-breathing reptile: six levels filled with alien uglies stand
between you and your pal, but fear not — there are heaps of power-ups to
enhance your weaponry. The other two coin-ops on the cards are Big
Run, a teeth jarring rally racing game and the seriously cute
Rodland. Here you play either Tam or Rit, two magic wand wielding
fairies who are sent on a very dangerous mission.
TARDIS-LIKE LARKS!
After programming CRASH Smash Hammerfist,
Watford based super team (or so they say) Vivid Image Design are well on
their way to completing Time Machine. Play the part of a white haired
professor who escapes brutal terrorists by going way back in history in his
time machine. He enters several time zones, in each of which he must help
evolution along its proper path. Shades of Back to the Future? Well,
it’s an arcade/strategy extravaganza and we’ll be bringing you a
preview in the next couple of months!
VERY HORRID
Watch out because Hagar’s about! Yes, that
part-time lunatic Viking from the popular press and full-time lager lout (how
does the Skol song go again..?) is soon to be unleashed on a Speccy near
you. Hagar the Horrible will be released in September, and the game
will follow the misadventures of this lovable rogue and all his motley friends.
Programmed by a German team called Kingsot, The Software Business will
be marketing Hagar the Horrible on these shores. Now what’s
Norse for ‘It’s your round’?
STARDOM FOR MOLE
After starring in several games for Gremlin, Monty
Mole is set for media heaven. Marketing Trademark Consultant, one of
London’s top character licensing companies, has taken our rodent pal
under its wing. The plan is to make Monty an established cartoon character
along with such greats as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto etc. But the
first step will be to produce Monty Mole merchandise, so expect to see Monty
Mole boxer shorts, toys, books, mugs and comics very soon.
COMIX
Read all about it! Mark Caswell checks out the latest on the
comics scene.
THE X-MEN — GOD LOVES — MAN KILLS
Marvel, £5.50, One Off
Mutants — people gifted with unique Factor X in
their genetic make-up. Some use their powers for evil, others help mankind but
are shunned by ‘normal’ people — The X-Men: Colossus,
Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Ariel and Nightcrawler in this story. The
line up of the X-Men has changed many times over the years, keeping abreast of
the times, and they’re still one of the most popular Marvel teams
around.
In this early 80s story The Purifiers, a fanatical religious group
lead by Reverend William Stryker, hunt down and kill mutants. Our band
of costumed vigilantes are prime targets, especially when Stryker kidnaps their
mentor Professor Xavier and brainwashes him into murdering his
‘children’.
God Loves — Man Kills is a classic tale of mankind’s
fear and loathing towards anything strange or different. You really do find
yourself cheering the mutants and booing the Purifiers, a graphic novel well
worth the asking price.
SILVER SURFER — THE ENSLAVERS
Marvel, £10.50, One Off
Marvel boss Stan Lee claims The Enslavers
took almost ten years to create! It’s very pricey, but full of glossy
colour pages with very natty hard cover — the sort of thing to ask for at
Christmas.
The Silver Surfer was once a mere mortal, Norrin Redd, who to
save his home planet from the omnipotent Galactus agreed to become a
metallic cosmic powered hero.
In The Enslavers a huge alien ship threatens Earth. The Silver
Surfer is plagued by nightmares where all his friends including his true love
Shalla-Bal have been enslaved. He soon discovers this is fact:
Earth’s heroes have fallen before the might of Mrrungo-Mo, ruler
of the space fortress. Can the Silver Surfer save mankind and more importantly
Shalla-Bal? Not bad, but ten years in the making?
STAR TREK ANNUAL
DC, £1.85, One Off
This slightly thicker version of the Star Trek monthly
comic is a tale co-written by George Takei (Mr Sulu in the
series). The crew of the Enterprise are summoned to problem planet
Datugad: For years it has produced Trimanium, artificial
substitute for the Dilithium Crystals used to power starships. Years of
exposure to the chemicals used in the process have turned the population into
walking time bombs sadly prone to spontaneous combustion.
The plan is to create a test tube colony away from the infected planet, but
a radical group on the planet’s surface want no part of this and take the
scientific team and its leader Dr Kohwangko hostage. Captain
Kirk and crew are powerless to help, but Mr Sulu goes rogue and heads to
the rescue: Ms Kohwangko is an old flame of his! The inevitable flashbacks of
the love story disrupt the story’s flow a little but the characters push
doggedly onwards. Worth a read.
Another trip into picture strip land next issue!