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There's a scale map of central London in Broad St's huge playing area. Only a portion is displayed and scrolls as you move your car about the streets of the capital.

The scenario is based on the disappointing film of the same name, namely that your potentially mega-selling record has been taken and amnesia has set in. You have to rush about looking for your friends, who each can remember fragments of 'No More Lonely Nights'.

The problem is all you friends are wandering around the London Underground. With the aid of your car computer you have to intercept them as they emerge from the tube.

This requires an awful lot of rushing around, usually from one side of London to another. You are given your friends' haunts on the excellently produced instruction sheet. Using this, and regularly updated information on where they've been seen most recently, you must use your intuition to guess where they're going to pop up next.

Should you succeed in recovering the entire tune (this would take a lot of doing), you reach the game's final stage in which you apparently have to assemble the notes correctly in a hectic session in the mixing studio. Unfortunately you have to work out for yourself how to use the mixing desk. . . .

If you don't succeed inside the time limit, the robbers publish the record and you are reduced to busking.

During the game all the information is nicely presented on screen and the streets scroll nicely when you are travelling. The wings hit 'Band On The Run' plays rather drearily throughout -- other than that, sound is nonexistent.

The graphics are competent, with a nice screen when you are waiting for a friend outside a tube. If you stand around for too long, a traffic warden will put a clamp on your car!

The control of your car is very tricky, and the map scrolls at a furious rate as you whizz along. It's also very easy to get lost in the maze of streets. Indeed, unless you're familiar with the streets of London, you'll find the game impossible to play alone without the constant use of the pause button and reference to the map. It works better if you have a friend to do the mapping for you.

JR

This was almost a very good game with a marvellous map of London and some in depth analysis of the seven characters. However, where it falls down is that while you are familiarising yourself with the roads and the personalities there is little to reward you for your efforts.

Getting a piece of the music is gratifying, but most people won't have the patience to get really well acquainted with the program. It seems the authors got too wrapped up in their own game to recognise the barrier that such familiarity puts up to the first time player.

A strange blend of strategy, luck, and aforethought, this game. Racing about London in your car proves tricky and takes some getting used to. Collecting the notes is frustrating work, especially when people aren't quite where you expect them to be. Completing Broadstreet will take considerable amount of time and patience - a lot more than I'm prepared to give in fact.

PRESENTATION
88% A very nice package with maps and detailed instructions.

ORIGINALITY
81% A unique scenario and new game-play elements.

GRAPHICS
74% Smooth scrolling streets, plus some nice screens.

HOOKABILITY
52% Poor control and high difficulty damage the game feel.

SOUND
56% Only one continuous tune until you find some notes.

LASTABILITY
73% Plenty of game there once you're into it.

VALUE FOR MONEY
65% Some very nice features.

IF LURKING around London underground stations is your idea of a fun tune then Give My Regards To Broad Street ought to appeal.


Argus informs us that the game has been okayed by ageing ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, presumably because the plot of the game closely resembles the film. In other words, little happens and it's corny.

You are Paul, and if that doesn't put you off, you must travel around London by car trying to find the members of your band on the run. You must also pick up chords which have been lost from the hit song No More Lonely Nights - which still got into the charts despite my best efforts. You have 24 hours to find your crew.

With luck you will eventually learn to manoeuvre your temperamental vehicle and stop at a station as one of the characters is about to go in or come out. You must wait around until you pick one up, together with chords, but beware the wheel-clamping traffic wardens.

The game is technically excellent. There are two types of screen. The first display shows your car on the road map of London. Underground stations are highlighted and much effort has gone into producing a detailed map of the capital. There is also a radar screen at the bottom of the screen and information about characters who have just gone into or left stations.

The other screen depicts an underground station and shows you waiting for your friends. Every so often a warden comes along and you must rush back to the car.

It is unfortunate that such an obviously brilliant team of programmers did not have a better plot with which to work. Surely the film included more details than lost friends and musical notes. On second thoughts, perhaps not.


Publisher Argus Price £7.95
Memory 48K Joystick Kempston
***

John Gilbert