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### Christmas Cracker [Spectrum 48/128K]

#### http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=89713

#### Reviewed By SirClive

When the guys over at Eurogamer decided to set up a Retro channel to bring some memories of consoles and computers past back into our internet-lives, they found the perfect man to take the helm. Chris Wilkins, founder of Retro Fusion magazine and organiser of the Retro Ball gaming events was brought in as Retro Editor. Chris already has an extensive network of contacts within the industry and he has used this to great effect in the short time that EG: Retro has been live (with features such as a Q&A with Dizzy creator Philip Oliver). But Chris's greatest coup to date must be in persuading and cajoling Spectrum saviour Jonathan Cauldwell to write an exclusive game based around the exploits of the lovable Egghead and his attempts to save the Eurogamer writers from Christmas Misery.

The game is called Christmas Cracker and is a ten-screen platformer in which your object is to rescue each of the EG staffers from the frozen Eurogamer Offices (the boiler is on the blitz you see). Its not exactly a difficult game and navigating your way through the screens will take no time, but the addition of snow means that some of your paths are blocked and Egghead must find a spade and dig through the snow if he is to progress. Graphics are your standard platform fare and very in keeping with other Egghead games, but the fantastic graphical characterisation of the EG peeps are fantastic (particularly when you know what they really look like). Sound is pretty sparse, but what do you expect for free?

In these commercial days where Christmas has been taken over by evil corporations whose interest is only our cash, this is a great way to get back to the good old times, when magazines like Crash and Your Sinclair had bumper Christmas Issues with full games as a reward for their loyal readers and I for one applaud Jonathan and Chris for their collaboration to bring all Speccy nostalgics an extra little treat this year. Thanks guys.

An interview with Jonathan and information about the game can be found by visiting the Eurogamer: Retro channel via the link at the top of this page.