Here's one for Wiley's Dictionary. Disk Drive: (n.) A fundraiser for the National Chiropractic Association. Maybe that's not the best way for the prehistoric world of the B.C. comic strip to enter the computer age, and fortunately it doesn't have to be. The long-awaited Quest for Tires game, starring Thor, the Fat Broad and the Cute Chick, is finally here. The graphics have been lovingly recreated by Sydney Development Corp., the Canadian firm that made the original B.C. deal with cartoonist Johnny Hart and then sold the distribution rights to Sierra.
Gameplay is familiar. Thor, on his stone age unicycle, speeds through the primordial terrain to rescue the Cute Chick from a pterodactyl. By leaps and ducks he avoids potholes, boulders, tree branches, stalagmites and stalactites. He must also ford a river by hopping the backs of turtles while avoiding the Fat Broad's club. At the end, he is rewarded with a heart from the Cute Chick but, alas, no kiss.
The graphics are simply terrific. The characters affect the same nonchalance as in the comic strip, and when disaster strikes they conform to all the conventions of cartoon life. For example, when Thor falls off a cliff he doesn't merely sail into space. Like any self-respecting cartoon character he first halts in mid-air, looks mournfully at the audience and awaits the inevitable. The unicycle drops like a rocket, elongating his legs and body as it does so, and finally his head is pulled along into the abyss. Similarly, when he leaps a chasm with the help of a bird, he again looks at the audience with a smug smile of satisfaction.
Sad to say, though, there are flaws which could have been corrected. The soundtrack is dull, for one. Also, you are given no READY cue at the start of a round. Thor is off and rolling as soon as he's on the screen and that first boulder or pothole can be his last. But the biggest flaw is that after rescuing the Cute Chick and going back to the beginning, there are no new obstacles for Thor to face. True, every round gets faster, but that's not enough incentive to really make the game addictive. Still, the graphics just about make up for any other shortcomings of Quest for Tires and we can look forward to more B.C. games from Sierra.
Always try to jump on a turtle as it's surfacing. This gives you a little more time before it heads back down again, with you on it.
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