ZX Spectrum Reviews

Crash Issue 5, Jun 1984 page(s) 109

One of the first games issued for the Spectrum, by Sinclair favourites, Melbourne House, Penetrator has stood the test of time very well. Despite the huge software base that now supports the Spectrum, Penetrator is still probably in the top ten or so of most playable and most addictive games.

The game is a fairly faithful 'steal' from the arcade favourite, Scramble and, despite the obvious limitations of the Spectrum, even using the full 48K, stands comparison very favourably with versions on dedicated games machines. The object of the game is to fly your fighter through a series of caverns, all stoutly defended by guided missiles and policed with radar bases and 'paratroopers'. As the jet starts on the screen, the landscape begins to scroll inexorably from right to left - once your mission has started, it is impossible to stop for more than, at most, a second, as more hazards, in the form of missiles and difficult jagged terrain, appear before you.

The program starts with the usual attractive Melbourne House loading screen and, once loaded, after a fine display of screen fireworks, a menu offers a choice of three modes: play, train or create. The trainer mode is a welcome innovation - because of the complexity of the cavern system, it is very useful to be able to acquaint oneself with the layout whilst being able to squander an infinite number of lives. There are various tricks and techniques which need to be learned in order to make progress and the trainer is ideal for this. There is a choice of practising on any of the four continuous stages of the game, and once a stage has been completed, you are automatically moved on to the next phase, and so on. Throughout your practice, a score is kept, depending on the number of missiles, radar bases and paratroopers destroyed, so you can check on how your skills are improving before you dare to move to the game proper.

The actual game is for one or two players and each one of the players' five lives starts with a rousing battle stations. The use of sound, although fairly limited in nature (jet sounds and explosions), is good, particularly when amplified. The keyboard control layout is one of the now standard types, with Q/A for up and down, and P/O for thrust/brake, which are sensible for finding in a hurry. Your weapons systems comprise bombs (any key on the bottom row) and missiles (P again, when pressed rapidly, which is quite an annoyance when using a programmable joystick, since the stick has to be jerked rapidly to differentiate between fire and thrust). The use of a joystick does simplify movement tremendously, since the game requires a fair amount of dexterity on the keyboard. Unfortunately it is a programmable stick which is needed, since there is no option offered for any of the standard joysticks.

The graphics are fairly unsophisticated, compared with the best offered by Ultimate and Quicksilva and it would be interesting to see the quality of a 1984 version, on this score.

Once you have negotiated all four phases, your task is to destroy the neutron-bomb store, and then return the way you came. Easily said, but it will take you many many hours of play on the trainer before you get anywhere near proficient enough to even reach the bomb store, much less destroy it and return to base. However, such is the addictive quality of Penetrator that you will keep trying, again and again, if only to better your top score. There is a high score table provided, of course.

If you are finally triumphant, or if you find the cave system just too difficult, the game boasts a unique customising option, which enables you to simply edit the landscape and bases to your own liking - as easy or as tough as you can manage, with as many or as few missile bases as needed. Once created, a landscape can be saved to tape, so in effect Penetrator consists of a series of Scramble-type games of differing degrees of difficulty at the player's whim.

One of the Spectrum classics and, hopefully, one of the first games to be upgraded for the QL!

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Crash Issue 5, Jun 1984 page(s) 124

Melbourne House's Penetrator is a splendid version for the 48K Spectrum of the arcade favourite, Scramble in case you don't know (where have you been for the last few millenia?) Scramble is a game where your fighter soars across a horizontally scrolling landscape of caverns and narrow mazes, dodging ground-to-air missiles and flying saucers. You can bomb the buildings on the precipitous slopes below. Almost all the features of the original are included in Penetrator, and there are a few extra ones besides.

Due to your ship's ability to fire at airbourne aliens or missiles and bomb the radar installations on the ground, Penetrator has six control keys. Fortunately they are distributed sensibly around the keyboard and the P key has been ingeniously programmed to thrust and fire depending on how long you keep it pressed - making life a lot easier!

Penetrator has five phases of action, ranging from open-air ground attacks to edge-of-the-seat manoeuvering along narrow corridors redollent with missile towers. A delicate operation, but it can be pulled off if you stay as far forward as possible at all times.

While the arcade version has a fuel gauge to keep your eye on, this has been replaced in Penetrator by a 'danger level' indicator: if too many radar bases are missed, this counter increases dramatically and the enemies become more intelligent - if the level reaches RED ALERT, then look out! You must now avoid guided missiles and crafty aliens who hide behind rocks away from your line of fire and swoop down on you when it's too late to hit them.

The graphics incorporated into the game need only one word of introduction - stunning! It's all hi-res, and so well animated that the rotating radar bases almost slip into three dimensions as they spin on their turrets. The explosions are satisfying and your ship's laser blaster can keep up easily with your twitching finger even if you're the fastest arcade gunner in the West! Unfortunately, you are limited to two bombs at a time - which is a pity as there's so much to hit. The sound, too, is excellent, especially the sirens, explosions and game tune.

The sound and graphics add to Penetrator's addictive qualities, but the actual game is very challenging and difficult, which can only be a good thing. The changing phases maintain interest, as does the incorporation of a mission which must be carried out rather than just blasting aliens all day. This task confronts you in the fifth phase, where you have one chance to bomb an alien base down a narrow chasm - miss and your ship obliterates colourfully on the end wall of the caves. If, on the other hand, you manage to hit the thing, you are rewarded with thousands and thousands of points and a lengthy fireworks display which is pretty at first but becomes tedious. Even then the fun's not over! Now you have to get all the way back to your own base by negotiating all four phases in the opposite direction.

Penetrator, though lengthy, is a first class loader and boasts an excellent starting picture just like the drawing on the cassette inlay. A nice menu is printed and then you're into the actual battle. If you should find all the action a little too much, then there's an excellent training mode where any phase except the final bombing run can be practised with infinite lives at your disposal (must cost the training centre a fortune in ships and parachutes!).

Of all Penetrator's first-class features, the most outstanding is the redefining command. If you ever master Penetrator (can I have your autograph?) the addiction isn't lost: with this feature you can change the landscape (floor and roof) and the position and numbers of both missiles and radar installations in the ground. Each new landscape can be SAVEd on tape and then LOADed back at any time. Thus, you can have hundreds of different versions of the game in your collection and make it as easy or difficult as you like. One point to note, however, is that accurate positioning of the missiles is imperative, as any uneven surface below their foundations causes them to explode automatically during the game and creates errors in future explosions.

There are little or no criticisms to be made about Penetrator. If you're an arcade addict, then Melbourne House have a real winner for you here. As the caption on the inlay says, 'If you have a 48K Spectrum, then you must have Penetrator!'

Transcript by Chris Bourne