Wordtris
The object is to make words with the tiles, kind of like a cross between Tetris and Scrabble. It’s fun, quick and not involved, and you can play it for little bits of time (like those last ten minutes before you go to bed). But don’t throw out the documents that come with the disk after you install this baby, because you have to answer a question every time you enter Wordtris to get access. Available at Egghead or other computer stores. It’s about $29 by Spectrum HoloByte. A.
Video Jam
Lights! Cameras! Action! Put yourself in the director’s chair and make music videos with this game (Electronic Arts, $50 at Egghead). The graphics are great, and you choose your actors, sets and music, then play back your “films.” (Make sure you have a sound system.) This is a rad example of what you can do with your computer, and loads of fun once you get going. It’s easy to install, but watch out- your system may not have enough space. We had to delete lots of other games to free up 12 megabytes, even though it calls for nine. It needs extra space to save the videos you make, and it’s also only IBM compatible. We give it a C+ for all those deficits.
Arcade
Pinball wizards will love these games, since they’re five of the most popular arcade games in the world (Asteroids, Battle Zone, Centipede, Tempest and Missile Command) adapted to the computer (Microsoft, $27 at Elek-tek). They’re easy to install, use only two megabytes of space and even have the same look and effects that the pinball versions have. Fantastic instructions on how to play also pop up when you enter each game. It’s an all around A.
Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?
Carmen rockets through space in this game (Broderbund, $40 at Elek-tek), but you won’t. It’s slow, time consuming and takes over 1 1/2 hours to install. There’s a built-in data base with charts from NASA and real digitized pictures of space, not to mention cool video clips of authentic planetary fly-bys and wild extraterrestrial characters. It’s easier to use than the other Carmen games because the data base is built in, but it’s also hard (especially to get to the higher levels). We give this a B- because it is cool despite its drawbacks.
HOT CORNER
Marvel at this
Your favorite Marvel heroes, villains and mutants (like “Spidey,” Hulk, X-Men and the Fantastic Four) are out to add a little excitement to your computer screen with the Marvel Screen Posters screen saver (Berkeley Systems, $18 at Egghead and other computer stores). It’s After Dark compatible, but watch out – it uses four megabytes of space.
