Name: Slime
Platform: Atari 800
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: Joystick
Genre: Action
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1982
Developer: Synapse Software
Publisher: Synapse Software
Players: 1 or 2 Alternating
Programmer: Steve Hales
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Slime is a victim of an alarming trend sacrificing game play in order to achieve originality. It can be honestly said that Slime is an original game. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Slime is a good game. It isn't. It doesn't live up to the standards of a good home video game, let alone a computer game. The primary object of Slime is to build a barrier of wedgeshaped (triangular) blocks to block the way of slime which is falling from the sky. And, of course, the slime is being dropped by killer aliens. The secondary objective is to deflect the slime into one of two giant vacuum tubes that are located at the edges of the screen. This gives you bonus points and also keeps the ocean from rising which is good.

You are given a large ship which fires the triangular blocks that deflect the slime. The blocks can be destroyed by lightning storms, rampaging UFOs and fireballs. The maximum number of wedges available to the player is 20. If all 20 blocks are on the screen, you must position your target exactly on top of a block you want to eliminate - then press the red button and the wedge will disappear. This maneuver will give you an extra wedge which you can place anywhere above the ocean level. There are also UFOs that carry giant plugs with which they try to plug up your vacuum tubes. If they succeed, you have to wait for a chopper to come and take the plug out.

The game has some nice features like very sharp graphics and, more importantly, total control over game variations. What this means is that you get to select the number of points you must earn before you are awarded a bonus ship, how high the ocean level is to begin with and the number of ships you want to use.

Regrettably, the game's deficiencies outweigh the good points by far. The sound effects are probably the worst ever heard on any computer game. The controls are what the company (Synapse) refers to as "sensitive" but, in any other dictionary, they would be defined as unwieldy and terribly jumpy. The ship from which you fire moves absolutely randomly, thus making you a pawn to the whims of fortune, regardless of how well you play. And, last but not least, the fireballs destroy everything in their path. Thus all that wonderful control comes to nothing.

Instead of blocking the slime as it falls from the sky, position your target right below the dropping slime. As soon as the slime touches the mark, fire a block.

[Electronic Fun - Vol. 1, No. 5 March,1983]
