REVIEW

AT 4,10; "SWIM B****** SWIM"

Reviewer: Mosquito
Developer: Yoshiatom
Genre: Aquapursuit
Platform: Spectrum 48K
Language: Modification

Run Baby Run was released in 1983 by Firebird software. Personal Computer Games described it as "Very difficult game in which you attempt to trick pursuing cars into crashing into each other" and, in their brief review, criticised its "poor graphics" and "frustrating" gameplay giving it a 3/5 rating. Home Computing Weekly were similarly unimpressed giving it 2/5 and summarising that; "this game is about what one might expect to get for a price of £2.50." (Ouch - Ed)

Yoshiatom has chosen this game to modify in order to produce this entry. Whether he has more nostalgic/fond memories of this game than those reviewers, or whether he simply wanted a relatively mediocre game to start with, is unclear.

He begins with a loader which, while quite crap, manages to be moderately more pleasant to look at than the original. Not a good start but don't worry, this is as good as Swim B****** Swim gets.

As you can see from this WoS Forum Post Yoshi has used SGE to edit the graphics of Run Baby Run to produce this 'new,' er, 'game.'

After selecting the game speed (1-8, the higher the speed the more points to be earned) you get 5 levels in which you control your swimmer using Z or N to rotate anticlockwise and M to rotate clockwise. Confusingly you begin your swim by 'rotating' in either direction.

One thing to realise about the pursuing swimmers is that they all follow your exact 'historical' path. They're chasing your 'ghost' - they're not aware of your actual current position - using this knowledge it's possible to plan your twists and turns to maximise collision potential. Thanks to Yoshi's marvellously awful level design, however, this knowledge becomes more or less academic:

Level 1: Plunge Pools
Incredibly small play area with 2/3 of the screen inaccessible and not much room to twist or turn.

Level 2: Underwater
Apparently full screen play area but plagued by invisible walls rendering the level unplayable, potentially unwinnable?

Level 3: The Lagoon
A full screen play area where, with the knowledge above, it's possible to get some collisions going but difficult to keep track of where you've been.

Level 4: OH NOES FLOATERS!!!11!!!one!!1
A screen so busy with obstacles it's very difficult to manoeuvre and so you're inevitably caught by the other swimmers very quickly!

Level 5: Fast Lane
The first 'playable screen' in as much as if you can make it to the end section you should be able to get some collisions going - but you probably won't and, even if you do, you'll likely crash yourself in mere seconds!

Mercifully there's no requirement to complete each level - if you're caught or crash you simply move onto the next one. At the end there's a high score chart of sorts and, if you want, you can choose 'y' to have another go (although I doubt a lot of people will - Ed.)

Obviously I can only give marks for what Yoshiatom has actually done himself so here's a breakdown:

Plus points:
- Change of car to swimmer graphics
- Change of level titles
- Change of level design/layout (kudos on this)
- Somehow managed to introduce colour clash that wasn't present in the original game!?

Nil points:
- Some rubbish car sound effects - still present despite the change in theme

In summary, while this is largely unplayable tosh, I must congratulate Mr Tom for his continued variance in techniques for creating CSSCGC entries. Most creative.

Yoshiatom also requested that leespoons was credited for his assistance with "the graphical works as this entry wouldn't be possible without him!" Two more steaming poos in the post, then.

[ Top of Page ]