The Transformer Games
| The Transformers
Publisher: Ocean Software Ltd. Year: 1986 Price: £7.95 Machines: ZX Spectrum (48K), Commodore 64 Type: Arcade/Platform Music: Fred Gray Protection Scheme: SpeedLock 1 (Spec) |
Story (from the inlay): The Autobots have had an energy crisis and must work as a team to repel the attack of the evil Decepticons while collecting the four pieces of the Autobot Energon Cube and transporting them to the Autobot Center. The Decepticons will attempt to steal these cubes and it will be only a matter of time before they succeed. The Decepticons have perfected ROBO-CLONING reproducing any of their number which you destroy. The Autobots have a daunting task ahead but gain some advantage from the DEFENSA-PODS under which they may seek shelter and regain their strength.
For the full manual click here.
References - ZX Spectrum magazines
| Magazine | Issue | Feature |
| Sinclair User | February 1986 | News |
| Sinclair User | March 1986 | Review |
| Your Sinclair | March 1986 | Review |
| Crash | April 1986 | Review |
| Your Sinclair | May 1986 | Tips |
| Sinclair User | July 1986 | Tips |
Notes: This is the most common of the two 8-bit Transformer games. You get to choose from a batch of first wave transformers, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Mirge, Jazz, and Hound. The Decepticons featured are Megatron, Soundwave (difficult to tell which is which from the side), Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, Starscream and Skywarp (both in plane and robot modes) and Ravage. I don't remember seeing Rumble or Frenzy in the spectrum game but they are in the Commodore one (Although who is what colour is up to you).
A full character sheet is here.
The commodore 64 version was slightly different from the Spectrum version because it was a more advanced system. The transformation process was different, the spectrum version featured you simply looking straight forward and pressing fire. The C64 version used an extra icon on the character bar which you select to change form. It also had some bizarre color schemes, Bumblebee in a nice red shade, Hound looking brown rather then green, and Skywarp in illuminous pink !(See link above)
The back blurb on the Spectrum release states that you control four Autobots, leaving out Bumblebee. The screen shoots however show Bumblebee but leave out Mirge. The back cover of the Commodore version has a screen shot of the end scene. The inlay and front cover pictures use the standard toy box artwork.
Fred Gray, who wrote the music for the Commodore 64 version was not best pleased with his composition... "Transformers was a nightmare. I couldn't get it right and was going to refuse to do it. They still used it. Yuk..."
Reviews:
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The Spectrum magazine Crash ran a feature on TV tie-in games in issue 48. They said "Ocean released Transformers (60%), diving into the continuing battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons with a licence that nobly tied up with its source series in scenario style and some of the animation's - but provided a poor game" I wouldn't have said it was all that bad.
Hints:
These from "Hex Loader" (whoever he was) from Your Sinclair issue 5
(May 1986).
- Flying up and over the planet's surface is faster and safer than
trying to walk out. Fly whenever you can, especially up and right - you'll
find a puzzle piece on top that way!
- Deploy your troops with care. Spread 'em around the surface so you
stand more of a chance of finding puzzle pieces.
- Recharge regularly - your shields will soon wear down if you don't!
It's also nice to have a breather occasionally, or change characters.
- Beware low flying - you can easily bump into a piece of platform
hiding just out of screen. Many's the time I bumped into one of those floating
ones by not concentrating!
- When faced with two adversaries trying to sandwich you, transform
into a vehicle and barge through one of them to freedom. That way they'll
shoot over your head.
- When you're recharging or reloading in a defensa-pod, the timer stops.
Hah! A good time to rearrange your forces or concoct a fresh strategy?
You betcha!
The next hint is a cheat to make you able to fly in vehicle mode. This
"amazing bug" from John Patmore in Sinclair User, issue 52 (July 1986):
Optimus Prime: Walk off the edge to your left. Keep going left
and walk off the next edge you come to. Fly between the two floors directly
opposite. When the top floor ends fly up a little and land on the floor
to your left. Transform to the vehicle and go left; there should be a slope.
Drive up that and the vehicle will fly.
Mirage: Keep going left until the platform ends. Now follow
the instructions for Optimus Prime from the beginning.
Hound and Bumblebee: Keep going left. When you've gone up two
slopes follow the instructions for Optimus Prime from the second command.
Jazz: Keep going left until you've gone down a slope then up
a slope. Go down the first ladder you come to; this should go down and
right. Now follow the instructions for Optimus Prime from the beginning.
| Transformers - Battle to save the Earth
Activision release came in a double cassette case, Mastertronic release was a budget release (i.e. single case) |
Story: (From the TF FAQ) Your mission in this game was to prevent the Decepticons from taking over various places on Earth, and to stop them from building their ultimate weapon. There was a map screen with about 15 different places on it, and you could send about 8 different Autobots to any of them, depending on where the Decepticons were attacking (they tended to go to the same locations every time the game was played, though, and some areas were never used at all). Once your Autobot was there, the game switched to a first-person view, and you had to move a cross hair to shoot at the nearly endless Decep jets that flew onto the screen. You could be hit by their missiles, and if you got hit too much your screen would "crack up" and you'd have to bring another bot in. There was also a nearly impossible part where you had to stop a tyrannosaur from stepping on the space shuttle.
For the full story see the manual
Notes: The Autobots featured were Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Rodimus Prime, Hot Rod, Hound, Pipes, Blurr and Kup. This is, you may be saying, is odd as Hot Rod and Rodimus Prime are the same person. Indeed they are drawn virtually the same in the game, although Hot Rod is red and Rodimus Prime a strange orange colour. The front cover features many 1986/1987 characters such as Cyclonus, Octane, and Springer, although these weren't featured in the game.
The game was reviewed in Zzap! 64 in issue 24 and only got 40%.
There are two versions available on the Internet. One features the extension .lha. LHA is actually a compression format used on the Amiga. You can get a utility for Windows/DOS which allows you to uncompress them - in fact Winzip allows you to uncompress them if you have this utility. Another is a zip file containing two .d64 (disk) files. The first one is the game itself, which works perfectly. The second contains an introduction to the Transformers narrated by someone who sounds like Victor Caroli. The second disk will not work on an emulator because it is digitized speech, it is for use with a real Commodore 64. This is why the disk image looks corrupted.
Hints:
The Decepticons generally follow this pattern of destinations.
Off shore oil rig, Nuclear power plant, Off shore oil rig.
At first they are collecting energy to power up the dinosaur. Depending on how well you fight them off they may need to attack these places again.
Dinosaur park, Space center, Andreas zoo, Pipeline.
Once they have enough energy collected, they will go to the dinosaur park and activate the dinosaur. It will proceed to walk off from the park and head towards the Space Shuttle to get the Space dust. Once they get the dust the dinosaur will crush the shuttle. The Decepticons will then use the dust on the Hippopotami which will grow to gigantic proportions. After that the Hippopotami will walk off to the Pipeline to drain more energy.
Use Rodimus Prime and Hot Rod. They have the best weapons. Make sure to aim then fire because you can run out of fire power very quickly.
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Copyright. 1999 A.Rowe