You may have guessed that this is a remake of Boulder Dash, where you collect gems while trying to avoid loosening the many boulders scattered around. This game is almost exactly the same, but Rockford is now human, and he gets to star in five different roles – as a hunter, a cook, a cowboy, an astronaut, and a doctor! Each of these themes has several levels of their own, and the graphics also change to reflect the theme. The graphics are very nice, and so is the music, but, like the original game that it's based on, it's just too difficult for me.

See also: Boulder Dash, Boulder Dash III.

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There is an old coin-op by Namco called Rally-X, which could be described as a cross between Pac-Man and Super Sprint. Well, this game is a sort of revision of that coin-op, with better graphics and music, but not as fast as the original. Your task is to drive your car around each level, collecting the parts of a racing prototype, while avoiding enemy cars and other hazards such as mines and traffic lights. Rock 'n' Roller isn't a great game, but once you manage to drive accurately, it'll give you hours of fun.

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Rock'n Wrestle
(Melbourne House, 1985)
Reviewed by Missas

Rock'n Wrestle was probably the first wrestling game to be released for the CPC. To begin with, the graphics use MODE 0 and they are both blocky and not too detailed. The sprites are big, but they move by byte and not by pixel, making animation not very smooth. The sound is limited to some effects which I found to be appropriate. And here is where the surprises begin; the gameplay is simply fantastic. With a big variety of moves, from grabs and flying kicks to simple punches and rope pushes, you can do almost anything you can imagine to your opponents. Another mega plus is that opponents' difficulty, style and appearance change from stage to stage. The playability is something that you can only understand by playing this game. The grab factor is very high and it is pushed further by some funny incidents during the fight – for example, when a fighter becomes dizzy. For me, this is the best wrestling game for the CPC.

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Stuck in a meteor storm, you must blast all of the rocks while avoiding them and therefore smashing your ship to pieces. Unfortunately, the rocks will split into two, and before long, you'll have a dozen rocks zooming around the screen and no room to get out of their way. You can also choose one special option, such as hyperspacing to another part of the screen, reversing, or using a shield or a smart bomb, or if you're really adventurous, a lucky dip. It's really a simple version of Asteroids and it's good fun – the graphics are good as well – but it is rather difficult.

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Your Auntie Mabel has left you £50,000 in her will, and you've decided to use it to break into the music business by forming your own band. You have to get four gold discs before the year is out. The game starts with you selecting the stars (including Tina Turnoff, Bill Collins and Michael Gorge), getting a contract, recording an album, and then releasing the album and singles to boost its sales. You'll also have to cope with charity gigs, stars quitting, and of course, the tabloid press! The graphics aren't that good and the music isn't much better, but you won't believe that being the manager of a band could be so much fun. One word of warning – don't play this game if you're easily offended!

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A strange little game based on the cult film and musical, this game has you as either Brad or Janet (witless hikers), wandering around the weird Rocky Horror mansion, collecting all the scattered pieces of the machine that can restore their partner from their frozen state, courtesy of the house's residents. The graphics are very detailed and impressive but lack colour, while the music is really quite good. There's even a whole rendition of The Timewarp at the start, complete with dance moves! The game itself is very surreal – scarily so in parts – and there's even one baddie who steals your clothes, leaving you wandering the mansion naked, until you find them again! The down side is that the game is quite short and easy, as the time limit is generous, and bad guys can be very thin on the ground in parts. A game mainly for fans of the film. Those like me who've never seen it will be left cold.

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Rescue your Elven Mom from the top of the Maboots tower in this very cute platformer that owes a lot to Bubble Bobble. Clear all the monsters out on every level using your trusty magic wand to thwack them into very useful destructive power-ups, while collecting any bonuses on the way as you advance to the next. Boasting large colourful graphics, lovely sound coupled with simple yet effective gameplay, this is a stunning game.

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The origins of Rogue date back to around 1980, when it became extremely popular in universities. It was the first ever role-playing game, with very rudimentary graphics which were drawn using ASCII characters, and has inspired many other games. Your quest is to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor which lies deep within the Dungeons of Doom. The dungeons are generated randomly, so you'll never play the same game twice. You roam around the levels of the dungeon, collecting gold pieces, potions, magic scrolls and other items, and fighting monsters, which increases your strength and experience so that you are better prepared for the lower levels. The CPC version of this legendary game has proper graphics, but it's rather tough, and worst of all, it's very seriously bugged and crashes so often that getting far in the game is impossible.

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Rogue Trooper is the sole survivor of the Quartz massacre that took place on the wartorn planet of Nu-Earth. His army was betrayed to the Norts, but the traitor's movements were recorded on video tapes. You must recover the eight tapes and return to a waiting shuttle, and kill lots of Nort troops too. You've also got three bio-chips which frequently give you useful hints or encourangement, and first aid kits and ammunition can be picked up as well. The game is different every time you play it, since the objects you need to collect are placed randomly in each game. The graphics are good, if a little drab, but there's no music and few sound effects. It's not brilliant, but it's still worth a go.

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Roland, who's definitely a big traveller, is now a pirate cruising the seas. I know what you're thinking; "It's a Roland game, it must be bad!" Well, you're not totally wrong. And yet, this is a rather enjoyable little game, though it has only four screens – the map where you control your ship towards the different areas, the harbour (where you pick up treasure), the powder quay (to refill your ammunition), and the cave where you must hide the treasures you've stolen. Each screen contains a trap, the spider in the cave being the most treacherous. There is also a sea snake and a bridge which you must destroy, and that's all! The graphics are simple but colourful and the sound effects are minimal. But it is funny anyway.

See also: Roland Goes Digging, Roland Goes Square Bashing, Roland in Space, Roland in the Caves, Roland in Time, Roland on the Ropes, Roland on the Run.

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