Bobby Bearing (ZX Spectrum)

Well, after the "fun" of Technician Ted, I thought I'd give the Spectrum another try - this time with Bobby Bearing, which as well as being a renowned Spectrum classic also received a Zzap! Sizzler on the Commodore 64, if I remember rightly. So surely I was in for a good time with this one?

Weeellllll... no.

Obviously, I was doing something wrong. But I spent my entire game rolling around a landscape that appeared to consist of about six screens endlessly bolted together, with the (very) occasional different screen thrown in to try and keep me awake. But as it was all done in near silence, this tactic didn't work.


Die, you irritatingly smiley bastard.

Actually, that's harsh. There's a noise every time you go off the screen, and the grating sounds of moving boxes every once in a while. The moving boxes provided my only entertainment... squashing the bastard bearing. Because I have no idea what I was meant to be doing. I was just rolling around a samey landscape, watching my timer go down.

I suppose the drawback with emulators can be the lack of comprehensive game instructions. Maybe if I'd had these, and some idea of the object of the game, Bobby Bearing would have been great. But usually you can pick up the gist just by playing, and it really didn't seem like the game had a point. Shame. Wonder what gem the Spectrum will land me with next time?