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CUTHBERT
GOES WALKABOUT (1984)
(Text
from Rear of Cassette label): Cuthbert is on the Lunar
Landing Pad, waiting for the Federal Chief's State Visit. He must turn
the lights on by walking across the switches, located at the corners
of the squares, before the invading Moronians get him. Watch him do
his Victory Dance before he tackles the next "Pad" and another,
larger, set of Moronian Invaders. |
REVIEW
by AtariGrub
Four-eyes!
Specy! Geek! Just a few of the playground insults aimed at the many short-sighted
or long-sighted among us. Regrettably, spectacle-wearing heroes in movies and
games are few and far between. However in recent years Harry Potter has done
much to fill this void and give credence to the visually impaired against their
asphalt bullies. Back in the early eighties, the software company Microdeal
had a number of game releases starring a bespectacled youth called Cuthbert,
who seemed to have more than a passing resemblance to MAD Magazines Alfred E.
Neuman.
Microdeal's releases featuring this character were mainly clones of arcade or console games and included Cuthbert in Space, Cuthbert In the Jungle, Cuthbert Goes Digging and Cuthbert And the Golden Chalice. These titles were all programmed on various computer formats including the Dragon 32, TRS-80 and Commodore 64. However, Cuthbert Goes Walkabout was the only Cuthbert based game released for the Atari 8-Bit computers, but like its unoriginal cousins, was nothing more than a variation on the 1981 Konami arcade release Amidar.
For his "walkabout", Cuthbert's mission is to turn on the Lunar Landing Pad lights for the state visit of the Federal Chief. This is accomplished by using the joystick to walk around all 35 squares of the 7 x 5 grid that make up the playing area. Every square edge lit-up gives you 10 points and a completed square is worth 50. To hinder your task are the invading Moronians, of which initially there are only three.
You
begin the game with four lives, but will lose a life every time you come into
contact with a Moronian. Careful use of the joystick's fire button will enable
Cuthbert to jump over an alien's head. This is tricky and it is easier just
to avoid the aliens wherever possible. If a Moronian comes into contact with
Cuthbert, it is similar to a stinging bumblebee, the attacking Moronian will
also lose its life! It's therefore possible to find yourself in a situation
where there are no Moronians left on the screen! But beware! If you spend too
long completing a level, the Chief Moronian will transport down with almost
perfect homing skills!
Completion of a level leads to a victory dance around the screen with accompanying music and each succeeding level will add an extra alien into the mix, up to a maximum of 6 Moronians. Once all your lives are lost, you can add your name to the high score table, which is quite simple to accomplish thanks to an easy first level and an empty scoreboard!
In essence, Cuthbert
Goes Walkabout is a simple, but addictive game with basic graphics and an unfortunate
looping musical score, which will drive you to the Mute button before long.
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"Runaround!"
(5/10) |
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Main
Music
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End
of Level Music
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GAME TIPS
Keep
as far away from the Moronians as possible. They move at the same speed as Cuthbert
and will generally aim directly for you, apart from a few random manoeuvers.
The joystick button can be used to jump over the Moronians, but needs skill
to master. Also, DO NOT jump off the edge of the grid or you'll lose a life.
Remember, if you spend too long on any level, the Chief Moronian will appear
and he is hard to avoid.
CLICK
HERE to Download an Unlimited Lives file for use in the Atari 800Win
Emulator.
SIMILAR GAMES:
AMIDAR
(Konami, 1981)
'Cuthbert Goes Walkabout'
is based on the Konami arcade game 'Amidar', where you move your yellow gorilla
or paint roller (on odd-numbered levels) around a grid collecting dots (or painting
lines with the paint roller) to fill in the boxes, while at the same time avoiding
the enemies.
All of Microdeal's Cuthbert games are clones of other computer or arcade hits, including 'Cuthbert in Space' (Jetpak) and 'Cuthbert in the Jungle' (Pitfall).
KLOV - Killer
List of Video Games: Amidar
(Photos and information on Konami's 1981 arcade game Amidar, including original
manual and schematics!)
www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=A&game_id=6883
Wikipedia - Amidar
entry
(More information on Amidar)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amidar
Wikipedia - Alfred
E. Neuman
(Information and pictures of MAD Magazines mascot, who has a close likeness
to Cuthbert)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_E._Neuman