Wibstars

Copyright : A n F | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

Billy Wibstar - Enterpreneur.

That?s what it said on my card.

I?d got the idea after counting up the number of computer games in the local software shop. Then I worked out how much they were worth - and I started dreaming pound coins.

I finally got to the shop, unloaded the van and pressed the button for the lift. That?s when my problems really begin.

No - I don?t want to talk about it! Try it yourself - you?ll see why!

Graphics

Wibstars is a blatant straight Spectrum port. Blocky undefined sprites and garish colour schemes are the order of the day. Little effort has been put into making the vehicles look as if they are in motion and the animation of the character is poor also.

Sound

The little sound that is in the game is an unwelcome intrusion ? failing completely to create any kind of atmosphere. Instead, sonics are reduced to the typical spluttering sound that represented footsteps in your typical early Speccy game.

Gameplay

Despite sounding an intriguing prospect ? shifting computer equipment between supplier and retailer to try and make a profit with three clearly defined stages ? Wibstars fails to deliver. The buying section is tedious and ultimately pointless (regardless of what you buy the items are hurled down one of four chutes that you have to try and catch with your van and, get this, it?s IMPOSSIBLE to catch them all! That?s right! You can spend the best part of five minutes selecting stock and loading your van only to see it all smash into the dust! Brilliant stuff!

After this you take to the road in your van avoiding debris and other equipment that falls from the back of a competitor?s van. This section is overly simple, short and pointless. You can?t total your van regardless of how much junk you run over!!!

The third section is the retailer?s warehouse which takes the form of you pushing your stock up lifts and along conveyer belts, attempting to get the stock in safely before the missile (!) in the warehouse destroys it. This is also highly repetitive and more than a little difficult.

All in all Wibstars is a painfully mediocre Spectrum game given a piss-poor Amstrad conversion.