152: Cruising on Broadway

Number 152
Cruising on Broadway
YS Top 100: 96

The title really doesn't tell you what to expect in this game, but if minimalistic graphics are your thing, then that won't bother you. The gameplay might, though.

This is a maze game where your block must 'paint' every square of a particular path, while avoiding another flashing block in the process. You can make a hole in the path to impede the progress of your pursuer, and later levels see you avoiding two enemies at the same time. This is another early Spectrum game requiring LOAD""CODE (J, SymbShift+P, CapsShift+SymbShift then I) to correctly load on a real machine, though modern emulators will do this for you.

You'll need a bit of imagination to believe that the little moving blocks are supposed to be cars, but nevertheless, this is as simple as games are likely to get on this list. Personally, I couldn't get the hang of the controls - a lot of early games have this problem of not being able to redefine keys, or not having a joystick option. It goes without saying that when the action is this frenetic, you need to be very comfy with controlling your block. If you can handle it, try this out, but it drove me crazy.

16K - Yes
48K - Yes
128K - Yes