Phantom

Reviewed by Jim Short

 

Issue 28

Jul/Aug 87

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Tynesoft

48k disk £9.95
48k cassette £7.95
1 Player

Joystick

 

 

Tynesoft have taken a lot of stick from me for the awful Jetset Willy but they've made amends with PHANTOM, a brilliant arcade adventure which should help restore their credibility.

The scene is set as follows:- Those darn ghosts have been creating havoc again. As Professor of Astro-Physics with more than a passing interest in Psychic Phenomena you are well prepared for the situation. Equipped with your experimental nuclear accelerator you must destroy all the ghosts, monsters and other evil apparitions that live in the four buildings you have been asked to visit.

Gameplay is based around a variety of maze type screens viewed from above. There are several rooms per building and progressing through the rooms is accomplished by collecting a series of keys which allow you access to subsequent rooms. Your eventual aim is to reach the Transporter Room on the bottom floor of each building. You gain bonus points for clearing a room of it's ghostly inhabitants, but overuse of your weapon will drain your reactor, and isotope power packs are few and far between. A close encounter with an apparition will accelerate your ECG rate. If it reaches 100 BPM it's curtains for you, so a degree of caution is advisable. A superb control panel situated below the maze lets you keep track of all these important readouts.

Graphics, colour and animation are beyond criticism and the background music, which changes repeatedly during gameplay, is quality stuff. Maybe PHANTOM isn't quite as complex as other games in this format, but it's far easier to get to grips with than most of them and should therefore have a much wider appeal. Top marks for this one Tynesoft. It's a winner all the way!!

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