Saturday 1 December 2012

Specvent Calendar Day 1 - On The Run

A Speccy Advent Calendar

What with it being the 30th anniversary year for the dear old ZX Spectrum (although I've only been in possession of one for a little over 29 and a half years, having got one for my 14th birthday) I though this might be a good idea... an advent calendar of Speccy games. Not necessarily the best games, thoguh some of them certainly are, but the ones I played back then and the ones I still play today. So, no Manic Miner or Jet Set Willy, as I wasn't good enough at them! But a much more personal list, which kicks off with

December 1st (screenshot to follow)

On The Run (Design Design, 1985)

Firmly in the Arcade Adventure genre, On The Run has your impressively large astronaut sprite navigating a large mutant insect-packed maze armed only with a jet pack and a bug spray, with just one hour to find six flasks essential to the continued wellbeing of humankind. Contact with bugs is not immediately fatal, but does sap your energy - no energy, no astronaut, and no extra life. You can though pick up mushrooms to restore a little energy.

With over 300 screens to explore, and barriers that you need key objects to pass through, that one hour time limit is literally a killer - thank goodness for the occasional smart bomb to clear some space!

91% from Crash, 67% from YS and 3 stars from Sinclair User, so middling reviews but it had me and dad addicted for nights on end, though I don't think either or us got near to finishing it, and firing it up again tonight I collected one flask and survived about 6 minutes...

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