~The 7th Level Preview


The 7th Level have only ever brought out two programs of any note so
far - Tuneland and Monty Pythons Complete Waste of Time. But the fancy
graphics multimedia company also have a lot more on the horizon too.
This article takes a look at the company, and some of their games.


~Tuneland

Despite being well over a year old this childrens storybook still 
shines through on how computer software should be produced. Who 
cares if all it really is is a childrens game packed with nursey
rhymes, its still entertaining for adults too. 

For a start all the songs are very profesionally done, sung by some
guy who is apparently famous in the States although nobody has ever
heard of him over here. But his rendition of Hot Cross Buns is
astoundingly good.

The cartoon graphics in each of the locations are great too. The whole
thing comes over as more of a rock and roll extravaganza with 
humourous music and cartoon graphics. If I had kids I'd buy this!

7th Level are working on a sequel which should hit the shelves within
the next couple of months.


~Monty Python's Complete Waste Of Time

How can you turn Monty Python into a computer game? Have animation as
stupid as it was in the original series and add sound bites of 
sketches, thats how. The "game" is as weird and funny as the series.
One of the best sections is Spot The Looney where you must find the 
right combination of gadgets and gizmos to click on to find a hidden
maze game, while shooting any loonies that may pop up on screen. From
the wind-prone bottomless (as opposed to topless) can-can dancers to 
the Austrailans all called Bruce this is entertaining stuff.

The most useful part (if any of it could be called useful) is the
desktop pythoniser which you can used to totally customise (and 
probably ruin) you Windows desktop. 

You'd have to be a fan of the series to get the most out of this, 
but if you are its a very entertaining software title.


~Arcade America

What we have here is a collection of wonderful hi-res cartoon graphics
thrown into a game of simple arcade challeges like a Manic Miner
style level. Even from the intro its obvious graphics have been given
greater importance than gameplay but despite this near fatal design
flaw the game might just be worth owning for the humour the graphics
give. Its unlikely, but I hope its true because Arcade America is so
gorgeous to look at.


~Battle Beast

It should probably be out by now - Battle Beast is, you've guessed it,
a beat-em-up. The only difference is the trademark 7th Level cartoon
graphics have been employed. Whether the gameplay will be as good as
the cartoon graphics is doubtful though.


So some games with decent visuals but suspect gameplay. 7th Level may
not have got it quite right just yet, but they seem well on the way to
becoming a very promosing software house.