Please login to submit a screenshot

T he last thing anyone needs right now is an Arkanoid clone, but like it or not, you have got one. Having said that, bar Development Software’s imported, near perfect version, this is the best you can get. Programmed by Swiss software house Linel, who sounds as if they should be making expensive bars of chocolate for posh stores, this is well-programmed and contains some of the nice touches that are becoming a hallmark of Amiga games.

Its loading sequence is brilliant. Little caveman figures pop out and paint the game’s name on a wall. Suddenly there is a sampled Tarzan howl and another one swings on a rope across the screen only to smack into the wall. Well it is funny when you see it, anyway.

The jungle theme is carried through with more sampled effects and a native drone. The game itself is a little disappointing. Although the bricks hide well-drawn pictures of prehistoric beasties the Arkanoid gameplay is not as sharp as it might be. The ricochet effect is not so good and it is simply not as challenging. The usual features are in there like sticky bat, lasers and disruptors, whilst the alien life forms that float around the screen (in this case mice and acorns) will sap any power you have collected.

Crack! does however have two assets that might make you want to buy it. The first is a screen designer which allows you to construct your own levels and it is easy to use, the second is its neat little bonus game. Each time you clear three screens a jungle scene appears in which you have to guide a figure back and forward catching coconuts as they fall. It is not exactly rip-roaring entertainment, but it is kind of cute.

In all Crack! is a tasty morsel, but at its price, it is not the kind of program you are going to load between games.
Mike Pattenden