Binky

Copyright : Software Projects | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

The phone rings in the office of Binky and Sons, Painters and Decorators. It is quickly picked up by Binky. "Hello can I help you?"; a voice at the other end of the phone explains he had need of Binky?s service. A 21 storey building in the city needs floors painting. It seems that this job has been given to other companies in the city, but shortly after starting the job they quit without explanation, other than saying it wasn?t safe in there. Binky accepts the job and ALL it?s hazards.

Graphics

Those that have ever played the Atari 2600 classic "Q-Bert" will no doubt instantly recognise the style of graphics used in Binky. Binky is slightly different to Q-Bert in that you are not climbing any floors and there are no elevators to catch, your enemy isn?t something you can easily see either as the floor below you is your enemy and it try to eat you in order to stop you from painting it green. Design wise the levels are well done and offer plenty of variety from floor to floor, the concept of the game doesn?t need much graphical work and despite the MODE 0 looking chunky size to everything it?s not bad at all.

Sound

Sound is a major let down, Software Projects are the same people that brought us Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner so we expect something good from them, sadly there is no introduction music and only a few sounds here and there during gameplay. This is one game that could have been made a lot better given some music and a little mor sound, shame on you Software Projects.

Gameplay

Now the idea of the game is simple, paint floors 1-9 with one colour of paint, floors 10-17 with two colours of paint and all floors above that 3 times. Along the way you will find that the floor you are painting tries to eat you or throw you over the edge in an attempt to stop you from finishing the job (now you know why all the other companies quit) so you?ll need to be quick.
Sadly the game can only be controlled via the keyboard and considering most of us will be playing this on an emulator via the PC keyboard it leaves a lot to be desired and can make the game a whole lot more difficult than it probably once was. Don?t despair though, Software Projects didn?t just give you the game and instructions with this one, oh no they also gave you the cheat!
Apparently by typing CHEAT on the high-score table and then press CTRL and L together during the game you?ll be able to skip floors and your lives will be boosted up to 8. Even the developers must have found the game a little more than easy when they released it.
Binky isn?t a bad little game and when the developer hands you the cheats it makes it that little bit easier to play.