Hexagonia

Crash Issue 94 review, courtesy of spectrumcomputing.co.uk

Review by Steven Pick from the Sam Coupé Scrapbook

YIPPEE! This is the game to buy if you want to see my lovely artwork on the front cover of the game! It should be out now, so go out and buy it-because it’s fab! Now onto the review…

In this game, you have to join atoms together to make compounds, which you can see in full by pressing ENTER. You then have to place these pieces to form that structure. If any of you have actually done GCSE Chemistry, and have played around with those plastic models, it’s just like that! You control a hand, which zooms around the screen. You then have to ‘pull’ pieces together. One problem is that they can only move in 4 directions, on that axis! Adding to the problems, there are bouncers which give you your pieces back, blocks which an only be hit a certain number of times before disintegrating, and even invisible dangers! There are also double bonds, so you chemists will love this, and won’t have to revert back to the INFO screen!!

The graphics are pretty good, if a little Spectrumy (though the game is coming out on the Speccy soon!), but the actual music which accompanies the title and info screens is nothing short of fantastic! It’s done by the guys at FUXOFT (František Fuka) (Yes, from the SCPDSA demo!!) and it really is a tune to toe tap to!

Your Sinclair review, (Recovered) courtesy of the YS Rock 'n' Roll Years YS73

Hexagonia (SAM)Revelation     £9.99     Jan 1992

Hexagonia is the first SAM game to come out of Eastern Europe, and it's a hideous revenge for all those hours spent snoozing in chemistry lessons. You've got to slot together atoms in order to form increasingly complex molecules. The snag is that once an atom is sent whizzing on its way, it won't stop until it hits a wall, or another atom. Just to complicate matters, some walls break on impact, while others are rubber and bounce the atom away. Oh, and on later levels the walls turn invisible. The whole thing is made a tad more difficult by the fact that you only get one life?

Actually, it's not as hard as might first appear. An info screen shows you how the completed molecule should look, and the basic idea is really simple. In fact, it's a bit like those plastic sliding number puzzles. Once you get the hang of flinging atoms around, you'll find it all jolly addictive. Best of all, if you make a mistake you can usually get back on the right track, rather than having to give up. The other good bit is that there's no time limit, instead your score is constantly counting down. With seventy atom-packed levels there's plenty to exercise your little grey cells, and a neat password system cushions the blow when you get stuck. To cap it all, the soundtrack is full of jaunty ditties and clangy effects; while the graphics are smooth and clear, if a mite unpolished. Overall this is a playable puzzler that you won't beat in a week. Molecule you'll be playing for months, so up and atom! (You're fired. Ed)

Verdict: 84%

Ratings given by other magazines

       CRASH  8/10            Sinclair User  7/10