85 - Earth Shaker (Spectrum)

The tunneling / gem collecting / puzzle solving game has cropped up in many guises over many platforms, and so many of them blur together that its almost pointless to choose a favourite. Right from Repton 2 on the Acorn Electron - my first experience of the genre - I've been a fan, and I've dipped into many takes on the formula. What I like about Earth Shaker is that it holds up in terms of control, technical performance and challenge, and it adds a few extra elements that make it a little more interesting than the majority.

Of course basically you have to collect gems and exit the level without getting crushed by any falling items, and before running out of time (or beans in this case), but there's also the overall puzzle elements of doing so without cutting off access to any of the gems, and a variety of obstacles that can help or hinder you.

No comments: