Reviews

A classic from the very early days of the Spectrum. You control an anti-tank gun while tanks at varying distances travel from right to left in front of you. By raising or lowering the trajectory of your gun you can either immobilise them in their tracks or destroy them completely, but beware they fire back. Lots of options like rationed ammo make this a thinking man’s shoot-em-up and both graphics and sound are good for the period. Redefinable keys so you can use a joystick.

One of the first computer games I ever played and one of the best! Impede the tanks to enter your town single-handedly. Good fun !!

The sound of the bombs approaching and exploding is very realistic !! ;D

Very well for a 1982 game ...

This is one of the first games I picked up for the Spectrum and, apparently, also Don Priestly's biggest ever seller. Yes, it seems to have sold more than the likes of Minder, Trapdoor, Popeye, etc.

Anyway, it's a fairly simple affair. You control an anti-tank gun aimed at a bridge, whilst enemy tanks cross from right to left. There are four lanes across the bridge, and you need to control the elevation of your gun so as to pick off tanks on particular lanes. You gain points for hitting and destroying tanks, but lose them if they can cross the bridge.

There are two ways you can hit a tank. One to the turret will immediately destroy it, and this is very difficult with a moving tank due to the delay whilst your shells are in the air. However, a hit to the hull will merely disable it. You can then finish off the immobile tank with a hit to the turret at your leisure. However, you've got to be a little bit careful as the damaged tank can still return fire.

There's a somewhat strategic element to the game as tanks will stop behind destroyed or disabled ones, making them easier to pick off. Destroyed tanks will eventually be blasted out of the way, but anything behind a disabled tank remains a sitting duck. A favoured tactic of mine is to disable a tank in each lane, and then take out the ones behind with turret hits. I can then camp out at the left side of the screen when waiting for more ammo and no tanks will get across the bridge.

Although decidedly primitive when compared against later Spectrum games, this was rather good for its time and remains one of the more enjoyable 16K games.

1982 DK'Tronics (UK)
by Don Priestley

This was the first real commercial break thru for Don Priestley.
How a simple idea can transform a whole shoot 'em up genre, into something new and exciting.
Very graphic and very real, even the sounds, with the speakers in maximum volume, could simulate a war zone (this was 82!)
The only limitation is that the objective of the game was always the same, the difficulty increases, but the goal remains the same.
Either way it is an indisputable classic.

An early game for the 16K Spectrum - one of the first by master Don Priestley - where you must stop enemy tanks from crossing a bridge from the right to the left of the screen. Your ammo is limited and you will get more if you stay alive. Points are deducted when tanks safely get to the other side.

In 1982 this could be state-of-the art, but it was soon superseded by much better looking and playing games. Anyway, it's still worth spending some time on.

Though easily repetitive it's a good game you easily play and come back too.

An early Don Priestley game. Lots of character in such a simple game, and wide areas of primary colours, which made early Spectrum games so joyous.

Other than that, a simple game, except for the alarming habit of the enemy tanks to shoot one another in the back if they wait too long. That always makes me catch my breath.

One of the first works of Don Priestley for the Spectrum, published in 1982 for DK'Tronics.

A simple concept based on physics: adjust the gun angle before shooting moving tanks over a bridge. The score depends on where you hit: turret, hull, ...

It was a hit when it came out, a classic among the early games but it hasn't aged very well. Anyway, because of the originality, it can give you some fun.