Producer: Firebird
Retail Price: £3.95
Language: Machine code
Author: JCain, K Moughtin
A team of Egyptologists have accidentally been trapped within the deep recesses of a newly discovered ancient maze-tomb. Their oxygen is rapidly running out and they manage to send out a plea for help on their radio transmitter in the hope that someone, somewhere will here their cry for help. Well someone does. Their call is received by Thunderbird Five, orbiting high in the stratosphere and it is John Tracy, member of International Rescue who hears the Egyptologists' message. The information is soon relayed to International Rescue's base and Thunderbirds One and Two are scrambled into action.
This is where you come in. After sitting through a multi channel rendition of the Thunderbirds theme, the game starts on a menu screen, where you choose the equipment you wish Thunderbird 2 to carry. Thunderbird 2 can move a forty ton payload, and you must choose your equipment accordingly. A variety of useful items and equipment is available, including Thunderbird 4, The Mole, weed killer, earthquake bombs and scanning equipment as well as extra fuel. For each tonne of equipment you take you forfeit a hundred of the two thousand points you start with. Moving a pointer labelled select against the name of an item and pressing fire causes it to be loaded into Thunderbird 2.
The action flips to the launch screen once you've loaded up. In a blaze of pixels Thunderbird One takes off, followed by Thunderbird 2 unless it's overloaded in which case the overweight message is flashed up and some of the equipment chosen has to be replaced. The Egyptian tomb is split into many rooms, each bordered and split into a maze with character wide squares. Both Thunderbird One and Thunderbird Two are in the tomb, though you can only control one at a time. The ships move in the four basic joystick directions with the control being switched between the two via the fire button.
The idea of the game is to pass through the mazes to reach and rescue the scientists. The trouble is, some of the passages are blocked with coloured slabs of stone and others are not wide enough to allow Thunderbird Two to pass. Blocks can be moved by nudging then with the craft. While red blocks can be shifted by either ship, Blue blocks can only be moved by Thunderbird One while green ones only respond to Thunderbird Two. At times the two ships will have to co-operate closely to clear a path. A limiting factor introduced to make the game a bit more difficult is the inability to swap control when the ships are on adjacent screens: you have to be two screens away or on the same sheet as the other Thunderbird to change control.
Throughout the game when you come onto a sheet where a piece of the equipment you've chosen to bring can be used the relevant machines comes automatically into action.
Other little problems confront you later in the game it's not all block moving and passage clearing there's water to be passed and insects to be bypassed to mention just a couple of hazards held in store but there's also some treasure to be collected if you're in the mood. All the time you're in flight, fuel is being used, and while there are supplies to be found in the tomb, it's quite possible to run out... It's quite possible to get stuck on a screen, with the way forward blocked so you can save a game position out and reload Eater if you think you're about to make a fatal mistake.
COMMENTS
Control keys: definable
Joystick: Kempston.
Keyboard play: responsive
Use of colour: not always in the best of taste!
Graphics: large graphics that avoid colour clash but are a bit chunky
Sound: excellent multi-channel tune, very good indeed.
Skill levels: 1
Screens:
Though Thunderbirds is quite an enjoyable logic game I must admit to being disappointed - the Thunderbirds series could have given rise to a really brilliant game. As it stands, Thunderbirds is an original, but ultimately simple game. Not a bad idea, but nothing exceptional. The graphics move poorly and don't look too wonderful. The music is very good though and gives a surprisingly accurate rendition of the Thunderbirds theme music. I don't think this game is really worth of Firebird's Super Silver label although it can be quite enjoyable.
Thunderbirds is a bit of a let down for me. I had imagined a fantastic game of really high quality, and this didn't live up to my expectations. The graphics are large and nicely animated but they're a little primitive; there's a nice tune but it tends to get on your nerves after a while. I enjoyed playing Thunderbirds for a while, but it got a bit boring, solving the same kind of puzzles continually.
It's a shame really - this game almost loses out because of the name it's got to live up to. Thunderbirds, the game, has some nice touches, like the title screen and music and general scenario, all of which tie it in with the telly programs - but what on earth are Thunderbirds One and Two doing flying round inside a giant Egyptian Tomb? Solving puzzles, that's what pal. Neat puzzles, tricky puzzles, but not Thunderbirds are Go puzzles. It's almost a waste of a name this one - little more than the shape of the ships and the theme tune ties it into the TV series. In its own right, though, not a bad little game.
Firebird
£8.95
Thunderbirds are Go! But not in the form Firebird (any relation?) have naughtily notched up in a lazy maze based on the puppet show that had no strings attached. Of course, I'm not old enough to remember the original, but the Ed tells me they've got the logo, the music and even Thunderbird One taking off from under the pool dead right. But after that it wouldn't raise a F.A.B from Parker, m'lady.
Back on earth Thunderbirds 1 and 2, flown by Scott and Virgil, have to rescue two Egyptologists trapped beneath a pyramid with air running out. Both ships have to be flown in concert around the maze to rescue the asphyxiated archeologists - using the loaded gear to overcome obstacles or pick up treasure.
The maze is made trickier by different blocks dropping fore and aft of your access. Instead of making the game more interesting, though, they basically slow the whole thing down.
Publisher: Firebird
Price: £3.95
Memory: 48K
Joystick: Kempston
Thunderbirds are go! With a hiss the swimming pool slides back to reveal Thunderbird One. Meanwhile, Thunderbird Two makes a sudden exit from the face of a cliff.
"Virgil! I'm going in," screams Scott as he roars between the pyramids. "F.A.B. I'm right behind," yells Virgil and Thunderbirds One and Two disappear from sight as they enter the intricate maze of an ancient pharaoh's tomb.
Trapped in that crumbling monument are some eminent Egyptologists. The oxygen supply is almost exhausted. One rescue team has failed already. Scott and Virgil will have to use all their initiative to get them out alive. The pharaohs were a devious bunch and to prevent the tomb being ransacked, they erected a device whereby great stone blocks would fall in the paths of any who entered.
Thunderbird One can move the blue blocks, and Thunderbird Two, the green. Both can shift the red blocks. However, the passages are narrow, there are many that the bulkier Thunderbird Two cannot negotiate, and shifting blocks around without due forethought could leave Scott and Virgil in peril.
Artefacts and treasures can be picked up en route which will help your score, and fuel dumps can be utilised for a longer playing time. The famous Thunderbirds theme tune accompanies the rescue mission, but it can be turned off for some blessed silence.
Thunderbirds is brilliant, a gigantic puzzle which will tax your ingenuity and powers of logic. Blocks may have to be moved two or even three times until they are out of the way.
The game is nicely balanced with some arcade sequences - not that you have to shoot at anything. But you will have to negotiate a spider's web, patrolling guardians and mummies amongst others. A choice of weapons and equipment is given at the start and if you make the right choices, those will be implemented automatically when you reach the arcade screens, knocking out obstructions and affording you an easy path to the exit.
I haven't enjoyed myself so much for a long time. The game is not particularly fast; the graphics are quite basic but more than adequate. But figuring out those puzzles has me hooked.
In the words of Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Co - F.A.B.
MACHINE: Spectrum, C64
SUPPLIER: Firebird
PRICE: £3.95
Thunderbirds are Go! This maze puzzle game, one of the first in Firebird's new Super Silver range, manages to capture the spirit of Gerry Anderson's classic TV puppet series.
You have to help the pilots of Thunderbirds One and Two rescue a couple of archaeologists trapped inside an ancient Egyptian tomb. Being a typical tomb this one is packed with traps, secret doors and deadly nasties.
You have to solve the puzzles, beat the traps and save the missing archaeologists before their oxygen runs out.
Each screen is a puzzle. You have to move coloured blocks around, using both Thunderbirds to create a pathway to the doomed men as quickly as possible. No mean feat - and you have to look out for fuel along the way.
Thunderbird One can move blue blocks, Thunderbird Two moves green blocks. Both craft can move red blocks. You often need to use both craft to solve the puzzles and move on to the next screen.
Before take-off you can equip Thunderbird Two with various bits of machinery and gear that help in the mission. Each bit of equipment you take reduces your starting score. Taking nothing at all reduces your of chances of finishing.
If you come across a screen where one of the items in Thunderbird Two's hold will help out - the computer takes over and you get a short animated sequence in which the item is used to your benefit.
More fuel can be found inside the tomb. But DON'T move away from a screen once you've discovered some fuel. If you do, it won't be there when you get back.
Thunderbirds is a game for the strategy minded games player. If you don't like solving puzzles and just want to zap things, then don't bother picking this up. If you like a challenge and have a few hours to spare, then grab a copy now. Very addictive, long lasting and fun.
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