Producer: Spaceman/Quicksilva
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Angela & Sandy White
Yes folks, it's the long-awaited follow-up to Sandy White's extraordinary 3D Ant Attack. The style is instantly recognisable, the pre-defined isometric perspective city maze and fast scrolling, the boy or girl hero leaping and walking around, but colour has been added and a few more gizmos to make a different game altogether. Our hero has now been provided with a little red helicopter to fly about in and the city has become infested with death-dealing zombies.
The helicopter allows another new element to creep in - architecture. For once inside it, the hero can drop blocks to build or re-design the city. He can also remove existing blocks by the same means. This becomes important because in Zombie Zombie the heroine can jump from the tallest blocks but only jump up single steps, and the Zombies can only be killed off by luring them into following you up onto the walls, and when you jump down from a high one, the zombie follows, splatting redly on the ground?
You are also provided with one other means of defence - you can blow a puff of air at the zombies which will blow them away for a moment. Below the playing area rows of yellow dots (106 in all) represent the carrying capacity of the helicopter in blocks. Every time a block is dropped a dot disappears. Once out of the machine and on foot, the dots represent breaths left, so after a long stint of building it pays to stock up on breaths before disembarking. To pick up blocks the helicopter must be sitting on a wall and the fire key is tapped. To drop one, it must be hovering in the air, which is also done with the fire key, but if the fire key is rapid tapped, it will result in blocks failing down into position. Getting out of the helicopter is done by landing and using a direction key. Locating the 3D position of the helicopter is easy with its shadow being seen on the ground.
As in Ant Attack there is the facility of four camera angle views which are achieved by standing still and using the fire key, the views then rotate in turn automatically.
COMMENTS
Control keys: Cursor keys and either zero or bottom row to fire
Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, Protek, AGF
Keyboard play: very responsive and much simpler than in Ant Attack, though it might have been nicer to have an alternative to the cursors
Use of colour: quite nicely used, but not the ideal game because of attribute problems
Sound: 2 channel sound is provided if you have the right hardware, good helicopter noise, otherwise not much during game
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 3
Screens: large scrolling area, smaller than Ant Attack however
Special features: boy or girl option
Ant Attack II? This is very similar in style to the earlier game, both in layout and type. I feel that Zombie Zombie is better than Ant Attack, though control is still a bug bear. The ability to move blocks is great and I spent ages trying to block in a zombie, although killing them (how can you kill something that is already dead?) is done by leading them to their deaths over high walls. The 3D graphics are very impressive and the sound is excellent although there isn't much during play itself. Zombie Zombie is a good game which is more playable than Ant Attack.
Sandy White evidently took note of the complexity of controlling Ant Attack, because the keys for Zombie Zombie are much reduced, everything now being controllable from the joystick without rows and rows of other keys to worry about. This instantly makes the new game more fun to play as there is more time to enjoy it! Zombie Zombie is full of neat touches (like the copyright, written large in stone blocks) and I especially like the way that you can crash your helicopter into a wall - it vanishes, but you are all right. Later you will see that the helicopter has returned to its pad in the centre of the city - the spot marked by H. Introducing colour has made the game look livelier, but has unfortunately introduced some attribute problems along with it - these do not spoil the game however. Although I enjoyed playing Zombie Zombie, I don't think it is particularly addictive, and rather as with Ant Attack, I was left with an impression of super graphics making a lack of content. Still, building cities is great fun and the game is probably worth it for that alone.
Essentially this is 3D Ant Attack, except without ants and with zombies instead. Several differences become apparent straight away if you've ever played Ant Attack; they are that the maze is more colourful and other characters in the game have colour as well instead of being just black and white. Of course, this does create quite bad attribute problems, but doesn't spoil the playability of the game. The maze is considerably smaller than its 'parent' but is much more flexible and you can enthusiastically fly about rebuilding the entire town to your own personal taste. This is fun in itself. Zombies are not very intelligent until you are within a couple of feet, at this stage they jump at you and throttle you. This may be a little unfair as it is otherwise difficult to attract their attention. City movement is very fast when fly-passing around in the helicopter, so much so that it makes Ant Attack look very slow. On the other hand, in Ant Attack the ants were onto your trail very rapidly, but here the zombies seem to be infrequent and at times it can be hard to spot one. Overall, I don't think this is any significant improvement over Ant Attack, and in fact I think Ant Attack is the more playable game. I would have thought that as Sandy White gave the Spectrum such a tremendous lift with the soft solid graphics of Ant Attack that the follow-up game would also have given another lift, not so much in 3D graphics but in a 3D game where the game content was exceptional. This is my opinion, but don't let it put you off buying the game.
Dave: Oh no! Antescher has been invaded by zombies - nasty green ones that turn red with rage and attack whenever you get too close.
To help you rid the city of this influx of Duran Duran fans, you're equipped with a helicopter which you can use to fly around in safety. But you have to leave it when you're destroying the zombies - a feat accomplished by running into them from behind! Once hit they turn all slavelike and can be led up onto any convenient wall where they will happily jump to their death to the tune of Ten Green Bottles. If you're not too confident of controlling the zombies this way, you can always fire your 'puffer' at them whichMl make them run away to a safe distance.
Any architects out there will also be glad to hear that your helicopter is capable of carrying a large number of bricks around, so the city can be re-defined to suit yourself; you can also have some fun with your own brand of 'Soft Solid graffiti'!
Basically this is Ant Attack all over again and as such it will appeal to Ant Attackers everywhere - but if you found Ant Attacks tedious experience then don't bother with Zombie Zombie. For those of you who've seen neither Zombie Zombie is probably the best of the two. 2.5/5 HIT
Ross: This is just too similar to Ant Attack to offer anything very exciting. The tunes are OK and the ability to write obscenities on the bricks should keep you amused. 1/5 MISS
Roger: Tidying up the undead can be amusing, even though I'm told it's a pastime short on originality. Probably a hit. 3/5 HIT
CITY OF THE UNDEAD
Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor
Moving in the same direction as the film industry, Quicksilva has made the horror quantum leap from giant ants to zombies. Following the trail blazed by 3D Ant Attack, the company has now released Zombie Zombie, using the same softsolid technique which popularised the former.
Softsolid is a means by which a true 3D perspective is built up using 'solid' cubes to form structures, behind which you or the monsters lurk. The landscape is a ruined city, many times larger than the screen, which may be viewed from any of four directions, thus enabling you to sec behind the walls.
You have a small helicopter, casting the now fashionable shadow when aloft, which can pick up and redistribute the bricks of the city.
That enables you to cut off or channel the zombies to a suitable killing ground.
Destroying zombies is much more difficult than killing ants. The only apparent way of doing it is to lure a zombie up a set of steps and over a precipice. You are capable of surviving the drop, but the zombie goes splat and leaves a small red puddle.
The game is less playable than 3D Ant Attack, despite the welcome provision of joystick options. Whereas the ants used to swarm in large numbers around you if you stood still, the zombies are difficult to find. That, coupled with the enormous difficulty in destroying them, makes it more fun to potter around designing buildings with the helicopter rather than get on with the game.
MAKER: Quicksilva
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £6.95
After fiddling around with this for about half and hour, I'm left with lingering feelings of bewilderment. Zombie Zombie is definitely for those who relish enigmas.
The sleeve offers little help, simply one of Quicksilva's crazed blurbs, which I must admit I always enjoy reading. The game itself looks great on first impression, but you have to pick up tips on playing from the demonstration mode. This much I do know... You are in a ruined city with a little red helicopter at your disposal. The ruins are beautifully realised, in what Quicksilva term Softsolid graphics. You can climb into the chopper and fly around, in which case the ruins can be re-arranged by picking up or dropping individual blocks. In the helicopter you are safe, but if you choose to go foot-slogging, along come the zombies. Nasty little green figures, these do something of an unspeakable nature to you if they get close, but you can temporarily blow them away.
But here's the puzzle. What really is the object of the game? In the demonstration it seems as though you have to construct ramps up which to lure the zombies so that they can fall to a precipitous death. But to me this seems rather a clumsy tactic in what is otherwise a very elegant game. I suppose I'll have to accept it, though. The game failed to hook me as I just couldn't believe in it.
MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Curs, Kemp, Sinc
FROM: Quicksilva, £6.95
The follow up to Ant Attack using Quicksilva's 'softsolid' graphics technique has arrived and it's endearingly titled Zombie-Zombie.
You are in an ancient city and the only things you have for company are the walls, a helicopter and zombies! Actually they are rather blobby green, red or pink things and you have to kill them. The only way to zap-a-zombie is to get it to walk off a wall that is three blocks high. To this end you have been provided with a helicopter in which you can move bits of the walls about and construct your own private zombie plank-walk.
First, however, you have to get a mindless monster in tow. Usually they appear green but if you get too close they turn a nasty red and start to eat you. The only way to avoid this is to choose your victim, charge up directly behind it and pounce. It will become a bright shade of pink and start to follow you around.
If you put a wall between you and it, it will be able to escape - so you have to carefully lead it to your staircase up to a wall. Then you lead it up the stairs and along to a large drop at the end. with every step scoring a point.
Jumping off the end should make the beast follow, plunging to its death. However any twists and turns in the wall may allow it to escape as you leap into mid-air. If the wall is too high you will die as well and its very easy to twitch your joystick and jump accidentally.
As in Ant Attack you can view the landscape from four perspectives and the screen scrolls smoothly around. You can keep red zombies away from you by blowing at them but, be warned, they attack very fast. The cassette inlay gives you very few hints but you could have fun with this one.
From the screen shot you could easily think that this is just o reworking of Ant Attack. It's true, the wonderfully realistic 3-D graphics are the same, this time with the added bonus of colour. The game on the other hand, presents a totally new challenge. In common with the author's previous program, you'll either love it or hate it - personally I enjoyed every second.
PETER WALKER
I must be the only person in the northern hemisphere who wasn't all that keen on Sandy White's last offering, Ant Attack. I'm afraid the same is true of the follow-up. OK, so the graphics are wonderful in both games and Zombie has some nice touches of humour but I just can't bring myself to be enthusiastic about it.
ROB PATRICK
I found this rather disappointing as a follow up to the great Ant Attack. I didn't feel that colour really added anything to the game.
The 3D effects are still very good, but I would have liked to seen little more done with them. The sound, though, was very good - perhaps the best I've heard on the Spectrum.
PETER CONNOR
PRICE: £6.95
GAME TYPE: Arcade
Somewhere in this deserted city where no people can be found and the walls provide hiding places but no homes, somewhere in this city lurk the zombies. Hideously deformed, green creatures, they wander the grey streets mindlessly, striking dread into the hearts of hapless strangers.
When the zombies change from green to red, then is the time to flee. Their minds reanimated for a short time, their killer instinct leads them towards the nearest living creature. In Zombie Zombie, the nearest creature is bound to be you.
Flying high above the city in your helicopter, you detect the zombies below. Safety can only be gained by their destruction, and you plan to lead them to their deaths luring them to the dizzy heights of the city, and then trusting their mindless forms will leap to oblivion on the hard ground below.
First though, you must leave the safety of your helicopter, and walk the streets of terror below. In any of those streets may lurk a zombie and your only weapons are your skill and your helicopter.
Use the helicopter to shape the city to your plans, to lift the giant building blocks and send them crashing down in new forms to create an entirely new city. Then leave your refuge and try to destroy the undead.
Zombie Zombie is the follow up to Ant Attack, featuring the same high-quality three-dimensional graphics, and choice of viewing angles. It closely resembles its predecessor in looks and feel, although the change of plot, and the addition of the rebuilding facility add to its excitement.
Zombie Zombie is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Quicksilva, 13 Palmerston Road, Southampton.
Spectrum 48K
Quicksilva
Novelty
£6.95
A new game from the author of Ant Attack, which uses the same superb 3D effects. Once again you find yourself roaming around a ruined city, now fighting off zombies rather than ants. This time you can also fly over the city in a helicopter, pick up and transport bricks.
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