Reviews

Following on from T.L.L. this game makes use of the same graphical techniques. There's a much larger game world too, although it's mostly water with just a few scattered islands. Instead of a Tornado, you have to pilot a helicopter and rescue a number of survivors as well as picking up a series of crates. All the while, the cyclone is ripping its way through the islands causing havoc. When it's close your controls become unpredictable and when it's right on top of you there's nothing you can do to avoid crashing.

Although there's a bit more variety in terms of what you have to do, the game doesn't quite have the same visceral thrill of T.L.L. with no bridges or power lines to fly under. The gameplay can become rather frustrating should you find yourself grounded by the Cyclone, or hunting fruitlessly for that last crate which was perhaps hidden on the far side of some island you flew past before.

There are some neat improvements to the game engine, such as the ability to flip the view around, which is essential to locate those aforementioned crates. There are also some other flying aircraft; however, they don't seem to do much other than crash into you, so it doesn't add much to the game.

Overall, it's a reasonable sequel to a great game that just doesn't grab me as much as its predecessor.

I like almost all of Vortex's games, and cyclone came second in my top 5 vortex list.

Cyclone's engine is improved T.L.L. engine, bigger map, and it can rotate view 180 degree to see backside of the obects and locations. This is where the fun begins.

in Cyclone, you use a helicopter to find 5 Crates hidden along the islands, and rescue people as much as you can. After finding all 5 crates you return to base island and game restarts. It looks simple but you have to avoid Cyclone (which is randomly wandering around) and you have to mind your fuel and you have to check every part of every island including rotated view as crates can be hidden behind a tree or a high hill. Also you need to collect all of them in a limited time.

Graphics and playability is almost perfect, it's not a hard game, when you get hold of controls your only enemy is the bad cyclone sitting on you, not leaving an inch.

it's a more playable and interesting version of TLL, the previous panayi's effort.

you have to drive an helicopter in panayi's usual colourful 3d graphics, flying over an archipelago, searching for five cubes, while a cyclone is moving around. well, we all know that.

i like it. i have fond memories of it, it's one of the first spectrum's games that really struck me back in 1986 (yeah, i was late, and the game was relasead in 1985), and it's still very nice to play, if you have patience and time - a game, in fact, may require a certain amount of time. but it's enjoyable and relaxing, (contrarily to TLL).

the detailed and colorful graphics, the original and playable gameplay, the number of features, make cyclone one of the true, real, original spectrum's classics.

Cyclone was the official follow up to the excellent T.L.L and as such was highly anticipated by the spectrum community.

It didn't disapoint , the plane was swapped for a chopper , the task had evolved into rescuing crates/people and the map had been split into lots of seperate islands to search.

Also this time round you had an enemy , a vast swirling invisible enemy - a cyclone ! which traversed the map like a deadly assassin , wreaking havoc whenever you got too close to it.

Its played in a 3d isometric viewpoint , you can switch the view (north or south) , you can land and refuel or just rest from the pursuing whirlwind .

Its graphically excellent and still looks good today , the task is hard but fair and never gets boring , overall id highly recommend it.

Cyclone is a sequel of sorts to the excellent Tornado Low Level by Costa Panayi. The premise reads like a job application for Parcel Force, only actually exciting. A series of ultra-important cardboard boxes have been clumsily discarded over a chain of little island clusters and you, as awesome helicopter pilot #34993742U, must collect the boxes with your handy winch. Unpleasantly, however, a large invisible tropical cyclone roams the selfsame island chain, disrupting aircraft and well... disrupting YOUR aircraft. An indicator on the screen flashes excitingly when the storm is near, so the race is on to land as quickly as you can and wait it out, then zoom off in search of the next box. Sure, you can pick up human trash for bonus points but who gives a damn? Those boxes won't deliver themselves!

Cyclone is unique in that it turns conventional game design on its head and makes a fetch quest that actually doesn't suck. The boxes are carefully hidden, sometimes necessitating the nifty view-rotation key, but they're clear enough upon close enough inspection and I haven't had many that required tricky manouevres to get (although a couple have spawned very near sheer cliffs which results in a few heart-in-mouth moments when the cyclone approaches). The fuel limit that ticks down from the moment you set er... blade.. to air is more of an irksome annoyance than an obstacle, as landing at any one of the game's helipads jauntily refuels your craft. Ironically the only time I really felt in danger was from the game's lethally quick horizontally scrolling suicide jet pilots. These idiots set a furious pace jetting usually directly across your intended route and the wise pilot will keep a close eye on the "DANGER AIRCRAFT" indicator. When a full-blown natural disaster feels less intimidating than the mildly psychotic cabin staff, you're either flying RyanAir or playing Cyclone.

Graphically the game impresses. The islands and buildings- though blocky and simplified - ooze variety and character, the pleasing little dances of the islanders (what humanitarian crisis? I'm on a delivery, guv), the idyllic beaches, everything has a wholesome clean look, like Camberwick Lagoon. The scale of the game is not enormous, but distant islands are enough of a hike that you think twice about your islandhopping route before taking it. Sound is perfunctory - eardrum-rending pitched squeal for helicopter, throaty bork noises for the inevitable crashes. Rinse, repeat.

It's hard to say what makes Cyclone so satisfying - perhaps its the "Bruce Lee" standard of achievability - its hardly challenging and yet perfectly paced to pick up and blast through in less than 10 minutes. As I found TLL pretty tough going at times this is a welcome development. The controls are sharp and unlike pretty much every isometric game at this time, entirely intuitive. Add to that its non-linearity, its open world and its pacifistic gameplay and you have a game so ahead of the curve that it wasn't topped in the genre it defined until Maxis' SimCopter in 1996. And that's doing pretty good, I think.

1985 Vortex (UK)
by Costa Panayi


Very Similar to the prequel T.L.L. (Tornado Low Level)) but a lot more complex in terms of gameplay.
You operate an Helicopter thru an archipelago of small islands. Some are inhabited and some are not.
Your mission is to find five crates while rescuing people stuck on the islands who are about to be struck by an imminent cyclone. You have to browse every island looking for the crates and this may risk your fuel levels or lead you directly into the eye of the storm. Once this happens you say bye bye to your chopter...

Another superb game by Costa Panayi, one of the heros of the Spectrum age.

Supreme search and rescue copter game that is testing, immersive and great to look at.
A classic game that has ZX Spectrum in its DNA - made specifically for the Speccy by one of the best 8-bit authors.

One of the Spectrum classics, a masterpiece by the master of 3D, Costa Panayi. Fly the helicopter into a danger zone in an archipelago to recover medical supplies, seeking and collecting five crates. Rescue inhabitants as well, avoiding planes and what's most important: beware of the cyclone that's devastating the islands. Use a compass and a map to plan the mission. You can use alternate views to find people and crates.

The movement in the four directions is smooth and excellent, and the little graphics are good, accompanied by appropiate sounds. When you get into the cyclone zone, the effect of the helicopter staggering is just brilliant.

A top ten game, definitely!