Moonquake

Moonquake was the first decent Bomberman clone released for Acorns, written by Paul Taylor and originally published on the December 1992 Archimedes World coverdisc. The game is set on the moon, and following a meteor impact you have been called in to clear away the debris that has fallen into a moonbase, travelling from level to level using an infinite collection of bombs to blast away rubble. Unfortunately, hhowever, the nuclear reactors around the base have been left online and if hit one too many times they wipe out everything on the level - including you! You also have to avoid malfunctioning security droids which wander around the levels, killing you on contact.

A bomb explodes

By destroying the fallen boulders, extra fuel can be unconvered and picked up which gives your bomb explosions a greater range. Extra bombs are available too and these enable you to drop more than one bomb at any time, which is very useful if you're being chased by a roaming droid.

You have to be wary of the mystery boxes left under the debris which can have various effects, including setting you to auto-bomb-drop, freezing the droids, making you invincible or causing all unexploded bombs to detonate instantly. The game really comes into its own in two-player mode in which you and a friend can go head-to-head, fighting it out and trying to trap each other with your bombs - guaranteed to keep you playing for hours!

I won't have the chance to hit that reactor again...

Moonquake has since been followed up more recently by a sequel, Marsquake, which adds lots of improvements including many more features and options. That doesn't stop Moonquake from being a classic Acorn game in its own right, however, and a pleasingly simple one at that.

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