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Mick the Mechanic. Now there's a character name that was never really going to catch on. Shame really if this cracking game is anything to go by. On each of the 26 levels you must collect enough oil from the tank at the top of the screen to start your car and progress. At the bottom of each screen is a garage with a car in it, which remains invisible until you begin to pour oil over it. Once enough oil is deposited, it will drive off and you move onto the next level. The usual platforms, ladders and ropes allow Mick to move about, plus trampolines which can be used to spring up to higher platforms. The baddies in this game come in the form of Arabs who are a little peeved at this wrenchmonkey nicking their black gold. Luckily a drop of oil spilt in the right place causes the Arabs to slip up, rendering them harmless for a few moments. Unfortunately, it can also put Mick on his arse, so be careful.

TURMOIL
Bug-Byte / £6.95

Ross: Picture a garage, our man with a spanner Mick the Mechanic, and a plague of marauding Arabs - and you've got Turmoil! The idea of the game is to guide Mick up and down ladders and along platforms to fill his oil can with the precious black stuff. Now manoeuvre Mick over a grid in the floor and drop the oil; this makes a car appear on the conveyor belt. If you manage to complete this feat a second time, you get to move on to the next screen to build another motor.
Turmoil stands out from other 'ladder and levels' games currently flooding the market because it makes use of 'spring' power. Mick himself has no natural jumping ability, so to get him leaping on to the necessary platforms, you have to guide him over a spring ... he'll then be thrust up in the air in proportion to the 'springiness' of the spring. The Arabs, who seem to be very intelligent, also use the springs and ladders in their efforts to thwart your plans. You can kill an Arab by spilling some oil in his path, but they're soon replaced so it hardly seems worth it!
Well, it may be just another 'platform' clone, but it's suitably different to be successful - I liked it. 3.5/5

Dave: A nice change from the usual selection of platform games. The springs are a great idea and the bouncing Arabs are enough to give you a case of the Sheikhs! 3/5

Roger: It's a tried and tested formula ... with a few dirty tricks thrown in. 4/5

Dave 3/5
Ross 3.5/5
Roger 4/5

Dave Nicholls, Ross Holman, Roger Willis

Producer: Bug-Byte
Memory required: 48K
Retail price: £6.95
Language: machine code
Author: David Turner

Here we have what Bug-Byte describe as a multi-screened animated platform-type game. Turmoil certainly is a platform game, although a very varied one, containing 26 screens with a multitude of hazards and layouts. The game features Mick the Mechanic, who must collect enough oil for his car to get it going. On each screen there is a different car sitting in the garage. It’s invisible until you start pouring oil over it which makes it appear. As soon as it is fully visible it will drive off and you get to the next screen. As you progress through the screens the cars get more sleek and expensive (from a Mini to a Porsche and beyond).
Screenshot

Leaping on the giant spring to gain great height

On each screen there is a dripping tap of oil at the top. Mick must go and collect a can, then make his way to the tap and fill the can before going to the garage. Life is made more difficult by swinging ropes, poles, conveyor belts and a couple of angry Arabs who don’t approve of having their oil stolen. Now and again tools appear in different locations which ought to be collected and taken back to the shed structure at the bottom right of the screen, otherwise the Arabs will become angrier.

Any game must have something that distinguishes it from previous ones, and Turmoil has a very novel difference in the large spring-like trampolines which both Mick and the Arabs use to leap up onto the higher platforms. Mick’s only protection is to spill drops of oil on which the Arabs slip up, removing them from the game for a few moments. Unfortunately this is also guaranteed to kill Mick off as well if he’s not careful of where he treads.
CRITICISM

‘Turmoil is a classic platform game and overall a very good game. The graphics are of a high quality and work well with few attribute problems. The colours are excellent and everything makes for a slick, well executed program. This game is fun to play and addictive. If you like platform games then you will probably like Turmoil which is a bit different from the Manic Miner type game. Well worth buying.’

‘It must be said that this is quite an original platform game. Screen graphics are highly variable and exceptionally pleasing to the eye. Playing characters are large, well animated and detailed. I especially like the trampolines where you have to time it properly to jump when the tension in the spring is right to give you a high leap. Timing the swinging ropes is also difficult, although not half as difficult as some games which have used these devices — this is a pleasing factor. The pace of the game speeds up as you progress through the various screens, not in the sense that the characters move about more quickly, but in the sense that more tools appear and as a consequence the Arabs get angrier and come after you harder and there are more Arabs as you go along. I love the idea of having cars that alter from screen to screen, progressing from the low class Mini through high performance sports cars (and maybe onto the supertax bracket). Overall I think this game has a high playability factor, and each screen definitely needs a different skill factor.’

‘Originality in a game is sometimes a question of an entirely new idea, and sometimes it’s a question of intelligently re-using old ideas in a new way. Turmoil is one of the latter sort, and a very good one. All the elements have been combined like a classic recipe to make an excellently playable, funny and addictive game that has an entirely new flavour to it. There is also a very good training mode which gives you an opportunity to have a go on the higher screens for practice. There are marvellous animated graphics, and the leaping Arabs flashing their long scimitars are particularly good. A very good game that should keep you playing for quite some time.’

COMMENTS

Control keys: Q/Z up/down, I/P left/right and M to jump
Joystick: not indicated on the preview copy
Keyboard play: highly responsive — ‘a joy’
Use of colour: excellent
Graphics: excellent
Sound:
Skill levels: progressive difficulty
Lives: 5
Screens: 26
General rating: Very addictive, playable and satisfying. Good value.
Use of computer 84%
Graphics 90%
Playability 91%
Getting started 89%
Addictive qualities 95%
Value for money 91%
Overall 90%