(c) Gremlin Graphics, 1986 & 1999
Original Spectrum version by Shaun Hollingworth, Chris Kerry, Peter Harrap & Marco Duroe
Z88 conversion by Garry Lancaster, 1999
Bounder for the Z88 is yet another conversion of a classic ZX Spectrum game. However, it is not another platform game!
The original Spectrum version was released in 1986 by Gremlin Graphics and is a challenging and addictive vertical-scrolling arcade game. It achieved both a Your Sinclair Megagame and a Crash Smash, also reaching 90th position in the Your Sinclair Official Top 100 Games Of All Time!
The aim is to guide your tennis ball through the scrolling screens, landing only on the safe hexagonal slabs. Most other scenery can be safely bounced over, but watch out for mountains and walls which you'll have to go around.
Slabs with arrows can be bounced on to give just over twice as long in the air as normal. Slabs with question marks give you a mystery bonus: some good, some fair, but most of them bad... Careful planning and the use of a map are essential.
Among the alien nasties to avoid are Binoculoids, Stickits, Moscita Birds, Chomper Domes, Pterries, Coins and Exocets. Some aliens can be helpful, though, including Teleports, Bonus Bugs, Copyright Cans and Moving Platforms. Only trial and error will tell which are which...
At the end of each level comes a bonus level; collect all the bonuses using as few jumps as possible.
There are various options available, accessed through the usual menu system:
Finally, please note that there is a cheat mode if you can find it; this uses the same code word as the Spectrum version, but employs a completely different, Z88-specific, way of invoking it...