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This is certainly one of the more original Spectrum games you'll find in this section. The ITA Express train has fallen into the hands of the ruthless Redmen and you are given the task of stopping the train before it reaches the border. To achieve this, you have to reach the front carriage and unlock the driver's cabin. As you scamper through and above the carriages, the Redmen are out to stop you. If you run into one of them or one of their throwing knives hits you, you lose a life. Your only ally in this thankless mission is the snakebird, a mysterious beast that flutters about the train. If you manage to snatch a passing bird, you can launch it like a missile at your foe. Once inside the train, you must swing on the hanging straps to dodge the Redmen - but be careful to avoid the awful creatures that lurk among the straps!

Right track for Sinclair

THE EVIL Redmen have captured the ITA Express as it hurtles towards an unknown doom. As a special security agent you have to Stop the Express on your 48K Spectrum and round-up the Redmen before the train reaches the border, when they will be out of your jurisdiction and free.

There are two stages. In the first you have to run across the top of the train, jumping each carriage as you reach it. You must be careful, however, to avoid the attempts by the villains to eliminate you with their knives or fists. You should also beware of the low-flying electric pylons above your head.

Despite the near impossibility of your mission you have one friend, the Snakebird, which you can catch as you travel over the carriages and release into the arms of the Redmen, who will suffer the same fate they had planned for you.

Once you have completed stage one you will be able to get inside the train, where Redmen and other assorted nasties will lunge at you, trying to shorten your life.

If you reach the end of the train, the express will start to slow and you will be congratulated on your efficiency as an agent. Then you are promptly dumped on top of the train again to run the gauntlet with more Redmen in the next round.

Stop the Express is well on its way to being a classic game. The idea is original and the graphics are of cartoon quality. It is also difficult enough to be addictive and, even when you have discovered the second level, you will want to keep playing.

Sinclair Research only occasionally releases a piece of software which establishes itself as an industry standard. This is one of those occasions.




STOP THE EXPRESS Memory: 48K Price: £5.95 Joystick: ZX Interface Gilbert Factor: 8

Stop the Express (in Japan, the game was known as Bousou Tokkyuu SOS (暴走特急SOS)) is a ZX Spectrum video game made by Hudson Soft in 1983. There were also versions for the Commodore 64 and the MSX.

Gameplay

In Stage 1, the player runs along the top of an express train, jumping between carriages while avoiding enemy knives and obstacles. Halfway along the train, the player enters the train, and Stage 2 begins. The player must then proceed through the carriages, towards the front of the train, so that it can be stopped.

Upon the completion of each level, the game displays the Engrish message “Congraturation! You Success!”. The game then repeats from Stage 1, with more enemies. Enemies, known as "redmen" initially pursue from the rear on the roof of the train, and the front once inside, and will throw knives which the player must dodge by ducking under, or jumping over, them. In addition, once inside the train, the player can jump up and hang from the overhead straps out of the way of the redmen. However, ghosts flit up and down the carriages making it extremely dangerous to stay there too long. Once a few levels have been completed, redmen will approach from both front and rear.

The player has only two weapons at his disposal. When on the roof of the train, he can catch birds that fly overhead and then release them to run along the carriage and knock the redmen off, as well as high kicking them. Whilst inside, the high kick is the only option.

Critical acclaim

Stop the Express was rated as the 4th best Spectrum game by Your Sinclair, in their list of the top 100 Spectrum games.

Remake

In 2004, a remake of Stop The Express by Jetmans Dad took second place in the Retro Remakes competition. The remake is faithful to the original in most respects, although some aspects of the gameplay are tweaked slightly - the player can now pick up knives discarded by the redmen to assist in his task, and the ghosts have been replaced by robot sentries which also fire lasers on higher levels.

There was a NES/Famicom port being planned, but due to only having the first train level, three levels were added and became Challenger, which was released only in Japan.

Stop the Express (in Japan, the game was known as Bousou Tokkyuu SOS (暴走特急SOS)) is a ZX Spectrum video game made by Hudson Soft in 1983. There were also versions for the Commodore 64 and the MSX.

Gameplay

In Stage 1, the player runs along the top of an express train, jumping between carriages while avoiding enemy knives and obstacles. Halfway along the train, the player enters the train, and Stage 2 begins. The player must then proceed through the carriages, towards the front of the train, so that it can be stopped.

Upon the completion of each level, the game displays the Engrish message “Congraturation! You Success!”. The game then repeats from Stage 1, with more enemies. Enemies, known as "redmen" initially pursue from the rear on the roof of the train, and the front once inside, and will throw knives which the player must dodge by ducking under, or jumping over, them. In addition, once inside the train, the player can jump up and hang from the overhead straps out of the way of the redmen. However, ghosts flit up and down the carriages making it extremely dangerous to stay there too long. Once a few levels have been completed, redmen will approach from both front and rear.

The player has only two weapons at his disposal. When on the roof of the train, he can catch birds that fly overhead and then release them to run along the carriage and knock the redmen off, as well as high kicking them. Whilst inside, the high kick is the only option.

Critical acclaim

Stop the Express was rated as the 4th best Spectrum game by Your Sinclair, in their list of the top 100 Spectrum games.

Remake

In 2004, a remake of Stop The Express by Jetmans Dad took second place in the Retro Remakes competition. The remake is faithful to the original in most respects, although some aspects of the gameplay are tweaked slightly - the player can now pick up knives discarded by the redmen to assist in his task, and the ghosts have been replaced by robot sentries which also fire lasers on higher levels.

There was a NES/Famicom port being planned, but due to only having the first train level, three levels were added and became Challenger, which was released only in Japan.

Producer: Sinclair
Memory required: 48K
Retail price: £5.95
Language: machine code
Author: Hudson Soft



Snakebirds and Redmen on the 9.15 — can you Stop the Express?

Trains seem to be in the news this issue, what with Blaby’s Casey Jones and now this original game marketed by Sinclair. Hudson Soft is the Japanese company who have been releasing games in Britain recently. Anyone who has ever wanted to do one of those scenes in movies where the hero runs along the tops of the carriages on a moving train, can now have a go!

The ITA Express has fallen into the hands of the evil Redmen. As Special Security Agent, your task is to stop the train and apprehend the vile criminals before they reach the border. You must reach the front carriage and unlock the motorman’s cabin, avoiding the thrown knives of the red rotters and their fists. Your only weapons are your wits, skill in timing and the likeable Snakebird.

The screen shows the carriages of the moving train, almost filling the playing area. You are lowered from above on to the roof of the last carriage. The train’s motion is indicated by the backward scrolling ground beneath the train and the flashing telegraph poles behind it. As you run forward, the carriages slowly scroll backwards. Thrown knives are ducked by falling flat and the gaps between carriages are negotiated by jumping. If the pursuing redmen catch up with you, or one of their knives hits you, you are flung off the train, which sails on without you.

Occasionally a snakebird flies past. Leaping up will enable you to catch one, and pressing the fire button will release it to attack your pursuers. Just below the score line is a caution signal which flashes whenever an overhead electric stanchion is approaching. Running your head into one of these is painfully fatal!

If you get through the first screen, the scene cuts to the interior of the carriages — a sort of cutaway view. Here the hero must use the passenger hanging straps to swing up and avoid the redmen, or it’s possible to leap over them, even kicking them in the teeth. But watch out for the ghostly red things that inhabit the straps as well.

The first stage is ten carriages long, stage two is the same before the motorman’s cabin is reached. Each redman thrown from the train scores 100 points whether it is the released snakebird or a kick which sends them flying.

CRITICISM
‘This is like a scene from a James Bond film. A very original idea nearly always sells cassettes — this is original and great fun to play. The train carriages are well drawn and colourful. ‘You’, your enemies and the snakebirds all move very fast. The sound isn’t bad, with a clicky effect resembling the wheels going over the rails. One disadvantage with keyboard play is the number of keys needed to move and operate your man. One of the better games that Sinclair has just released.’

‘The graphics in Stop The Express are quite impressive, probably because the train carriages are so large and colourful, but there are lots of other neat details, like the telegraph poles and sagging wires which can be seen above the roof and below the wheels. Also the overhead electric stanchions move in perspective as they flash by above you. Should you fall off the train goes on by — the exact number of carriages you have already got across. This is a game which requires nifty timing and responses, but which lets you improve, since the same events happen each life so you get the hang of it eventually. Very addictive.’

‘No help is given from the snakebird once you are inside the express, so you must time your jumps and kicks very well. There’s also this awful thing hanging up on the hanging straps which is after your blood. On top of the train it’s worth being careful with your snakebirds, as they are only effective for the length of one carriage, falling off at the end. Also, you can only carry one at a time. This is a highly original idea with imaginative graphics which also has just the right sort of ingredients to make it fun and addictive.’



COMMENTS

Control keys: a bit of a handful — A or J/D or L run left/right, Q or I/E or P to jump left/right and X or M =down, CAPS or BREAK to fire
Joystick: ZX 2
Keyboard play: difficult with so many keys, joystick recommended, but very responsive
Colour: very good
Graphics: very good, large and detailed
Sound: above average
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 3
Originality: very high, nothing else like it
General rating: amusing, fun, hard and reasonably addictive.

Use of computer 58%
Graphics 83%
Playability 85%
Getting started 78%
Addictive qualities 85%
Originality 88%
Value for money 83%
Overall 80%