ZUB (ZX Spectrum)

ZUB is a game that came highly recommended to me by Spectrum owners. And indeed, on World of Spectrum it averages a highly respectable 7.8 out of 10 from the voting public, which is about on a par with its Crash review of 79%. And yet, I remembered it not doing very well in ZZAP! 64. Must have been a poor port, I figured, as I settled down to play.

Poor ZUB is a creature on the planet ZUB, where everybody is called ZUB. That's gonna cause a bit of confusion. Turns out the green eyeball of ZUB, one of King ZUB's most precious crown jewels, has been nicked. And for some reason you, a coward of the highest order, has been promoted to Sergeant and tasked with the duty of retrieving it.


I'm facing the wrong way. They're going to knock me all the way to the bottom again...

The game has a great, well-written storyline, which made me chuckle a couple of times. Pity the same can't be said about the game. To escape a planet, ZUB must use the platforms that are positioned around the place to get as high as possible, where the teleport is situated. ZUB must find a platform, leap onto it, and then steer it to where the next highest is located, jump up to that one, and so on.

Sounds easy, but there are robots hovering about who will think nothing of knocking ZUB from his perch. Chances are you'll get really high and then be knocked all the way to the bottom. It's really annoying and frustrating, and the bouncing screen when you walk doesn't help. ZUB is the worst game I've played so far today. It does nothing but irritate. If I want to play a game where I jump up a lot, I'll play PapiJump+ on my iPod Touch. The ZZAP! lads were right with this one, I think... not a lot of fun.