Lots of news and plenty of action heading your way if you’re a
SAM Coupé owner!
COUPÉ GAMES ON THEIR WAY!
And you thought Defenders of the Earth was going to be the only
SAM Coupé game released? Here’s some good news: software house
Enigma Variations is set to put out a bundle of SAM games over the next few
months. Hurrah! Better news still is that even more are in the pipeline. For
now, here’s the low-down on the first batch...
Mind Games 1 is a pack of four arcade style games, especially
written for the Coupé. They challenge your quick wits and fast thinking
rather than an itchy trigger finger! The puzzles and problems will bend your
mind: the more you play the tougher they get! Look at the preview shots and
wait for the full review next issue.
The first graphics adventure for the SAM comes alive in The
Famous Five on Treasure Island. Based on the Enid Blyton book and officially
endorsed by the Blyton Estate, you can play any of the four children or swap
between them as you solve the puzzles. While based on a children’s book,
don’t expect the game to be easy: Enigma say it’s challenging
enough for the most adult of minds and includes over 80 locations and plenty of
problems to tackle. Release is set for late September, and Enigma hope to
include a copy of the book in the packaging.
SAM Multi Pack 1 is a double-play pack featuring two original
games by Rob Holman, creator of Defenders of the Earth. Game one is Futureball,
a sports simulation set in the future when the game of football has changed
dramatically. Lasers, killer robots and deadly traps are all part of standard
play in the year 2090. You’re a new recruit to the team and play through
tough training sessions before being accepted. The other game is arcade
adventure SAM Strikes Out and features the SAM robot familiar to all
Coupé groupies. Loads of screens packed with weird and wonderful
creatures make up the scenery and you have to take SAM across the perilous
traps and hazards to safety. The SAM Multi Pack 1 is out in September.
In Sphera, Enigma promises a shoot-’em-up to make 16-bit owners
jealous! A full-screen vertical blaster, with three layers of parallax and more
aliens than you would have thought possible. Hoping to better the classic
16-bit shoot-’em-up Xenon II, Sphere, which is only a working title, is
due end of October.
HELP AT HAND
SAM Co, the new company formed by ex-MGT plc directors Alan
Miles and Bruce Gordon, has been a great success. The company is committed to
continue supporting the Coupé in every possible way and providing advice
to anyone who is stuck with a Coupé problem. Alan says ‘Almost
3,000 users have replied to our letter mailed out a month ago and the support
we’re getting from all sides, including software, hardware and repairs is
fantastic’. For the moment SAM Co can only deal with written enquiries,
a phone line is to be installed very soon.
ON THE PHONES
Don’t forget a dose of help on all things Coupé is
available on the SAM Coupé Hotline. Information from Alan Miles of SAM
Co offers hints, tips and advice for all SAM owners and there’s a new
three minute program recorded every week. A call to the Hotline costs 38p per
minute peak times, 25p per minute all other times.
SOFTWARE CLUB
Not only is Enigma Variations creating a ton of SAM software,
it’s also forming a SAM Software Club. It’s a mail order club
which will keep members up to date on the latest releases with a bi-monthly
newsletter. A spokesperson for the club said ‘The software selected for
the club will be the best available and makes proper use of the Coupé's
capabilities — we’re not going to accept just Spectrum games which
run on the SAM!’
Details on the SAM Software Club are available from: Enigma Variations.
DA Tattersall
IT’S A GAME!!
While many software houses are still humming and aahing about
producing SAM software, you eager beaver readers have been busy creating your
own games! Neil Painton sent us his game called Ditchscape and an
admirable piece of SAM programming it is too. The game is best described as
Pipe Mania viewed in isometric 3D and plays well once you get the hang of it.
Neil’s selling the game for £3.50 on disk and £3.00 on cassette
and you can order it from Neil Painton.
TRANSFER THREE
Lerm Software, producers of Speccy and SAM utilities, have
released a new version of their transfer-made-easy program SAMtape. SAMtape 3,
which allows you to transfer thousands of Speccy programs onto the SAM, has
many new features missing from the original. So, what’s new? The
Snapshot function has been made more reliable: you can now save a screen or
whole program to disk. It’s compatible with programs produced from the
Disciple or Plus D disk drives and also features two loading values to help you
load in Speccy programs from tape. SAMtape 3 costs £10.99, and owners of
the original SAMtapes can upgrade for £4.50 as long as they send back
their original tape.
More up to the minute news on all things SAM next month!