Slithery, sneaky, slippery — ADRIAN PITT’s a tricky customer and no mistake. Only problem is, he has terrible trouble getting a grip on his Gear.

It’s all very well having 99 levels to test your skill and expertise but it prompts the question, is the game worthy of ‘em? Unfortunately, Slider fails to hit the mark.

Don’t get me wrong, loads of nice touches make it quite entertaining, but each level follows the same basic format. By the time I reached the tenth, the light of day dawned: ‘How exciting, only another 89 to go!’

Needless plot: the planet Rozen’s in a pitiful state. An invading army of Scum lords have fouled its surface, using a varied array of harsh toxins and poisons. To add insult to injury, the place is now swarming with ghouls, blobs, squids and fire-faces a-plenty!

As the furry yellow blob, Slider, it’s your job to turn back the tide of pollution, clean up the kingdom once and for all and send those raiding monsters packing!

In the pink

Rozen’s surface is made up of a series of blue toxic tiles. By siding swiftly over them, they change into nice pink healthy ones!

The screen scrolls in four directions as you trundle hither and thither, avoiding a multitude of monsters who pop out of holes in the ground. When all tiles are ‘in the pink’ (so to speak), it’s on to the next level for more slippery fun and monster blasting!

However, being an environmentally friendly blob isn’t an easy job. First and foremost, there’s the time limit to consider. On some levels it’s one hundred seconds, on others it’s less.

Then there’s decisions on which objects to collect. Food gives extra points, egg-timers provide extra seconds. Lasers and freeze guns are particularly helpful and the octagonal rifle’s a must — you can shoot baddies in eight different directions at the same time!

There are plenty of extras: short cuts, booby traps, one-way ties, ice blocks and oodles of weapons to keep you in check.

The game area’s tidy and colourful, the screen scrolls well, but the main character’s a little sluggish to control. There are different in-game tunes for the first few stages, each repeated from time to lime.

Initially, Slider possesses that frustration factor. When killed, you just have to play again to attempt later levels. Sadly, a few plays are all it takes for rigor mortis to set in. Slider’s simply too samey.

ADE

As Ade’s said, there’s not a lot to criticise. It’s cute, pretty and fun to play, but as with most games, there’s a fall-down point. Slider’s is its repetitive gameplay. After nine or ten levels, you begin to wonder if the next level will offer anything new. The answer is NO. The password system’s essential to a game like this, but with ten continues as well, It won’t last long. A nice game that would be a lot better with a few more tricks and traps.

PAUL

Producer
Sega
MD
N/A
MS
N/A
Memory
128K
Players
1
Price
£24.99

SF Rating

Presentation
79% - Ten continues and password system
Visuals
72% - Colourful, similar sprites throughout
Sonics
69% - Nice tunes, but they repeat
Playability
63% - Easy to play, same idea throughout
Lastability
70% - 99 levels, soon gets boring

69%

A decent game but not enough variation

Rating
69
Reviewer
Sega Force magazine
Region
UK
Scans
Sega Force - Issue 04

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