BEPPO is a complete clown. He is. Honest. Short, big feet, silly hat. Yup, he's a clown all right. And what is it that clowns do best? Well, they sort of clown about don't they? Apparently not.
Obviously clowning isn't quite as vocational as it once was. One day Beppo comes across a map detailing where he may find treasures beyond belief. Exactly what this sort of sensitive document is doing lying about in the path of insignificant clowns is not taken very far down the avenues and cul-de-
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that our little friend packs his trunk, says goodbye to the circus and trumps off to explore the 70 levels of wealth and woe that make up the game.
Crystals are to be collected to move on to the next level. Various other items litter the playfield including acid baths, transporter devices, energy boxes, razor blades and several species of small nasty creatures which will try to kill you.
Each stage is a sort of split level version of Pac-man, with the platforms connected up and down by ladders or funnels, occasionally bending round on themselves like one of those perspective-
The wonderful graphics really help to build up this effect, especially the parallax scroll of the grid in the background, which gives a vivid sense of the platform being suspended in space.
Jumps may be collected, enabling Beppo to leap over assailants or just to connect with parts of the platform that are otherwise inaccessible. Razors are handy for blowing away the massed hordes of anti-
Fleetness of foot (or joystick) is just as important as a highly developed degree of cunning in the fiht to stay out of truble. Most problems are easily solved by Beppo's superior foot-
Sound-wise, the tune plods along doing nothing really spectacular nor having much to add, but it is competent and not so irritating as to warrant silencing it.
Although the game is based on a very simple idea it still manages to be enjoyable and rewarding to play.
Clown-o-