Producer: Mind Games
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.99
Language: Machine code

This game could have been called the 'Wrath of Rath' since that's what your going to encounter when you lose. The player is asked to suspend belief for a little while as he takes on the role of Paul McCartney who, through no fault of his own, finds himself at the mercy of the group's evil backer, Rath. It seems that Rath has put up the money for the group to record their new album but the master tape was accidently erased. The engineers have managed to piece together all of the material bar one track, 'No More Lonely Nights' which just happens to be the track intended for single release. Your problem is that there is no other way of putting the track back together other than relying on the memories of those who attended the original recording. Rath has given you until midnight on Saturday to recover and remix the track otherwise he will call in his loans and end up owning the the lot.

Broad Street could be classified as a strategy-arcade adventure, the strongest element being the strategy one. There are seven characters, all of whom will be able to recall some part of the melody, all that is required is for you to find them and gather up the song, then take it back to Abbey Road in order that you can re-mix it. (Abbey Road is, of course, the recording studio made famous by the Beatles and immortalised on an LP). The game is set in London on a Saturday so each of the characters will be doing 'their own thing'. You must read and learn the characters' profiles provided with the game so that you can and anticipate their movements and be waiting to meet them when they emerge from a tube station. For example, fairly early on in the game your car computer will tell you that George Martin has just arrived at Heathrow. Anyone who has just returned from a far and distant land must be in need of a wash and brush up, the character profile tells you that Mr Martin lives in London W8. Find the nearest tube station to his home (in this case it is Holland Park) and drive there as fast as you can, if you catch him he will give you part of the tune. Anticipating the movements of each of the characters is by far the hardest part of the game but you will need to learn the whereabouts of the important tube stations otherwise you will waste precious time looking them up on the map.

The screen is divided into four parts. For most of the time the upper two thirds is used to show a bird's eye view of your car and the road you are driving along. Using this screen, you must guide the car to the required destination. However, during the meeting sequence the action is shown in this upper section. The lower third is divided into three parts, the left side is the information being given to you by your car's on-board computer, it provides a picture of a character together with the name of the tube station that he or she is using. You will be told whether they are going in or coming out. The middle section displays a street map of the immediate area, a little blip shows your relative position. The right side of the screen gives the name of the tube station that you are nearest, the current time and shows how much of the tune you have managed to gather so far.

Driving the car round town will call for some pretty nifty finger work, you will find your car bouncing of a few walls before you get the hang of it. While a few bounces do no harm to your vehicle the other cars, some driven by Rath's hired thugs, will destroy it if you don't avoid them. If you lose a car, due either to a crash or your being clamped, you can always get a new one from Abbey Road but you will waste a lot of time. On arriving at a tube station you can select the meeting sequence and watch the upper screen display change. You will see yourself pacing up and down outside the tube station but don't expect to be able to stay there for ever, sooner or later a yellow striped parking vulture will appear and, if he gets to your car before you do, he will clamp it.

If you manage to find the seven characters and recover the lost tune your last task is to get back to Abbey Road and re-mix the song, but don't forget you are still racing against the clock. The problem at this stage is learning how to use the mixing desk, the instructions refuse to tell but instead give only a cryptic clue. If you haven't managed to put the song together by midnight then Rath will have his way and you, with your guitar, will be on them streets.

COMMENTS

Control keys: A- forward and accelerate, Z to slow down N/M left/right, Space to meet, O to pause
Joystick: Protek, Kempston, Fuller, Sinclair 2
Keyboard play: good layout and responds well
Use of colour: very good
Graphics: fairly fast and smooth
Sound: not much, although it plays a rather warbly 'No More Lonely Nights' during pauses
Skill levels: 1
Lives: game limited by time, about half an hour in all
Screens: smooth scrolling with one animated screen.

My first reaction to this game was one of absolute horror, how on Earth was I going to find out where all of these people where going, let alone how to get there before they did?. To be honest I still haven't had the time to suss it out completely. I thought the driving, though difficult, was particularly effective, I enjoyed being able to swan around London in a vain attempt to find my way about. The on-board computer was a great aid but most if the time it brought about a feeling of panic when I realised that I had missed a character, in my haste I ended up bouncing from wall to wall getting thoroughly frustrated. There is, however, a way to play this game without trying to anticipate people's movements about the metropolis - start the game and make a note of people's arrivals and departures, then restart and use your notes to find them. This is useful for the weak strategists such as myself, but I suspect that at the end of the day the failure to include some sort of random element in the game could prove its weakness. On the whole I have enjoyed it and when this issue has 'gone to bed' I shall purloin one of the Spectrums, sit in a corner, and finish it

I suppose it's quite unusual to have a car-based game where you drive around London looking for bits and pieces of your song, in a world where many other people are after the same thing. What I found difficult about this game was not just the enemy cars that are out to get you or the time factor, what I found most difficult was trying to find my way around the wretched place; with the names and locations of so many tube stations to remember. I think the strategic idea behind the game is good but being an all-action person, there doesn't seem to be a great deal in between A and B. Okay, there are a few cars to avoid but not much else. The street map layout is very good and not over complicated. It will take a very long time to explore all of the possibilities; although it takes a considerable amount of time to get into the rhythm of the game

This is the most attractive looking game that Argus have ever produced, and one of the most complex (excepting Alien). The programmers have managed to fit an extraordinary amount of London into it, and the simplified road map well resembles the real thing. But perhaps that's the main problem - if you know London then you have a head start, if you don't then you will spend a lot of time studying the map first. Initial impressions that this is a road type arcade game are soon dispelled, because the real task comes in learning about the band members you are trying to find. Frustration can be almost terminal when you dash to a tube station only to find the guy has slipped inside and is now reported emerging from another several streets away. A sense of achievement grows when you begin to spot ahead where someone is likely to be and get to the tube in time to meet them. The graphics are fine and I particularly like the way the car bounces off kerb stones. Broad Street, is not a game of a few minutes, and for me it is more playable than another which it vaguely resembles - Ghostbusters.

Ross: From the same stable as Alien, here's another film follow-up that's billed as a sophisticated adventure and strategy game. The plot pursues Paul McCartney's attempt to save his band and their music from the evil financier Rath (any relation to Rath Bone? Ed).

You take Paul's part in his last ditch bid to track down the seven people involved in producing his latest album. They're the only ones who can help reconstruct the final missing track before midnight. Problem is that the magnificent seven are spread all over London. But to help you in your search, your in-car computer tracks their movements on the London tube system so you can predict where they're off to. If you're outside the tube station as they emerge then they'll hand over a snatch of the tune. Once all seven pieces are in the bag you can trundle off to Abbey Road for the remix.

The game comes with a large scale map of London and a tube map. On the reverse you'll find full details on the people you're after. This'll help you plot their movements as the game progresses. The screen is split into 4 areas - a large section across the top of the screen shows your car (is it a Beetle? Ed) and a small area of London's streetplan. The other three sections give the gen on the missing people's movements and more detailed info on the locality.

It's an original idea for a game but it's pretty dull in the playing. It might offer a painless way for prospective cabbies to learn abut London - but if this is how pop stars spend their time I think I'll hang up my guitar. 2/5 MISS

Roger: Another game-of-the-film-of-the-book-of-the-song that is best described as a spin-off that should, er spin off... 2/5 MISS

Dave: The map is quite big (and wrong in places!), and I found it rather more interesting than the game. If you like driving around in central London (do cab drivers read YS?), then you might enjoy it, otherwise give it a Broad (St.) berth. 2/5 MISS

Publisher: Argus
Price: £7.95
Joystick: Kempston
Memory: 48K

If lurking around London underground stations is your idea of a fun time then Give My Regards To Broad Street ought to appeal.

Argus informs us that the game has been okayed by ageing ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, presumably because the plot of the game closely resembles the film. In other words, little happens and it's corny.

You are Paul, and if that doesn't put you off, you must travel around London by car trying to find the members of your band on the run. You must also pick up chords which have been lost from the hit song No More Lonely Nights - which still got into the charts despite my best efforts. You have 24 hours to find your crew.

With luck you will eventually learn to manoeuvre your temperamental vehicle and stop at a station as one of the characters is about to go in or come out. You must wait around until you pick one up, together with chords, but beware the wheel-clamping traffic wardens.

The game is technically excellent. There are two types of screen. The first display shows your car on the road map of London. Underground stations are highlighted and much effort has gone into producing a detailed map of the capital. There is also a radar screen at the bottom of the screen and information about characters who have just gone into or left stations.

The other screen depicts an underground station and shows you waiting for your friends. Every so often a warden comes along and you must rush back to the car.

It is unfortunate that such an obviously brilliant team of programmers did not have a better plot with which to work. Surely the film included more details than lost friends and musical notes. On second thoughts, perhaps not.

MACHINE: CBM-64/Spectrum
SUPPLIER: Argus Press Software
PRICE: £7.99

You'll have no more lonely nights with your CBM-64 or Spectrum if you splash out one the game of the Paul McCartney movie - Give My Regards to Broad Street.

The theme of the game is similar to the movie. You have to chase around after parts of a lost song - each part is held by a different friend. You have dash around the streets London in hot pursuit of these people who are all travelling about on the tube.

If you are outside the right tube station at the right time then you'll get a note and you can dash on to find the next person until you've got the entire song.

Then it's back to Abbey Road studios to mix the tune and present it to your manager who is threatening all sorts of nasty things unless you get that hit single to him by midnight!

Each person - they include Linda, Ringo and former Beatles producer George Martin - has different "computer personalities" and likes to be at different places in London at different times.

You must read their biographies and work out which station they are likely to use - and be there on time!

The main screen display shows your car and a bird's eye view of the streets of London. That is unless you've hit the fire button when you're outside a tube station, in which case you get a detailed view of the station entrance and some neat London skyline graphics in the background. I particularly liked the graphic of St Paul's Cathedral.

The bottom of the screen is split into three parts. One shows you where a certain character is and at what time he or she used a particular tube. In the centre there is a larger scale scan of your location in London - surrounding roads, stations etc. Finally, there is another read-out which shows the time and the and the number of musical notes you've collected.

The package includes a poster sized map of inner London and the tube network - which you'll need when starting to play the game to find out just where you are.

Car control can be a bit tricky to start with - but you should soon get the hang of it.

You need to think fast and learn your way around the streets to get the most out of Broad Street which is ultimately a fast paced strategy game.

The graphics are good and the sound is nice too - but I'm not sure how many times I could listen to the CBM-64's version of Band on the Run! Overall, the McCartney game should be a top ten hit.

PRICE: £7.99

Give My Regards to Broadstreet is great fun. Great fun that is, if you disregard the game description and do what you want to do, not what Argus have told you to do.

You play the part of Paul McCartney. It is your task to spend Saturday meeting seven friends, collecting part of a song from each of them, and then taking it back to Abbey Road studios for mixing. Now, if I were Paul, I would phone all my friends and meet them at the studios. Not much of a game there, though.

Instead, you have to track them down in the centre of London. By keeping a careful eye on your in-car computer, which tells you when they were last spotted at a tube station; and on your character summary, which tells you where they are likely to spend their days, you are supposed to predict where they will emerge from the tube!

With the help of your London road map you can then drive over to the appropriate station and wait outside for them; and wait; and wait. Trouble is, there is not much of a game there either, is there? A certain amount of deduction is fine, but where is the fun in standing outside a tube station all day, waiting for someone who may never emerge?

What the instructions neglect to tell you is that you can grab your friends as they go into the station, as well as when they leave. This makes more sense. If, for example, Linda left the tube at Bond Street in order to go shopping, she will have to leave at some time, and five thirty looks like a good bet.

Matters become even more easy when you realise that the characters always play the same game when the program has just been loaded. This means that, after a couple of runs through, you can drive to Kilburn first thing in the morning, pick up part of the tune there, go on to Maida Vale and then head into town.

The game suddenly becomes much more fun. Instead of wandering disconsolately past tube stations for hours on end, with no one to talk to except the traffic warden, you can zoom around London, knowing exactly where everyone will be and when. The trick then, becomes to navigate the routes fast enough, to learn to take the bends at speed, and to work out the fastest route from the Elephant and Castle to Camden Town.

Londoners certainly have a built in advantage over everyone else. After all, if even Paul McCartney has not noticed that there is no tube at Broad Street, what chance is there for anyone else?

Give My Regards to Broadstreet is produced for the 48K Spectrum by Argus Press Software, 222 Regent St, London W1.

APS Ltd.
£7.99

For those of you that don't look up from your computer screens very often, the title of this program is taken from a film made by Paul McCartney, and he approved this game. Some unkind person said that judging by the film that was no recommendation but we don't believe in repeating vicious gossip!

Actually, whatever your opinion of the film, this game is very good and deserves your attention. The game comes well packaged in a large presentation box, and you are supplied with a map and mini biographies of the characters. These are important as you have to track down all seven to retrieve the ten lost chords before midnight, or you join the buskers.

The display is in three main sections, the top being an animated arcade screen around which you guide your Ford Prefect car, as you drive around to the tube stations trying to locate your band. As each member leaves home you are told and, knowing the time of day and their personal habits, you have to try and drive to the tube station they will exit from.

The graphics are colourful and informative and are animated well, they may not be "state of the art" but they work well and provide satisfactory realism.

Another game for those who like to think fast while playing a furious arcade game. Recommended.