THE SPECTRUM GAME DATABASE



PLEXAR



PUBLISHER

M.A.D.



AUTHOR

Paul Hargreaves



YEAR

1987



DESCRIPTION

Trailblazer clone (mostly). It's actually divided into different

sections, including a straight Trailblazer section, a more puzzly

variation, and a top-down 2D maze.



CONTROLS

Kempston/Sinclair joystick/Keys

Q-Up

A-Down

O-Left

P-Right

M-Fire

T+Y-Abort



ORIGINAL INLAY CARD TEXT

You have been selected to make the arduous journey along the 

crystal roads of Plexar. Many travel the roads, but few 

return, and those who do will never speak of what they 

encountered on their way...



THE GAME

Long ago Plexar was a prosperous and thriving planet renown 

throughout the universe for its natural beatuty. Its 

inhabitants were a race of highly intelligent beings known 

as the Miracle Engineers and they constantly strove to 

improve Plexar until it became the most technically advanced

planet in the galaxy.

As it was divided into 16 seperate continents, the Miracle 

Engineers designed a system of roads for Plexar which would 

link all parts of the planet together, but in order not to 

detract from the planet's beauty they decided that the roads 

should be made from crystal, supported at each end by 

diamond towers.

But all this happened many years ago before the Miracle 

Engineers were wiped out by a plague which swept over the 

planet sparing no one. The new inhabitants, or Plexarians as 

they are known, are tribal and primitive by comparison. They 

dare not use the crystal roads which they believe to have

magical properties, but every year in homage to the gods they 

worship, a canditate is chosen to travel the roads. Those who

are fortunate enough to return are never the same again, and 

are unable to speak of what they have encountered on their 

journey, but they are the fortunate ones for most never 

return.

This time you have been selected to make the arduous journey 

along the crystal roads. You must also attempt to find a way 

through the maze of walkways that link the roads within each 

tower. To add to the problem, not all the systems within the 

towers are quite as they should be. The service robots now 

continuously ramble throughout each complex and you must jump

clear of them as they pass. If you don't they will drain some 

of your strength and you may not be able to complete your 

journey.

Good luck, it's not easy for a humble Plexarian to use the 

technology left by the Miracle Engineers.



GAMEPLAY

Each continent is divided into three stages - three 

dimensional pathways and vertically scrolling roads. The 

three dimensional paths also come in two different types.



CONSTANTLY MOVING 3D PATHWAY

Moving the joystick left and right moves you left or right, 

joystick forward causes you to leap over one square. Joystick

back and you leap over two squares, and pressing fire will 

send you leaping over a number of squares. Different squares

have different effects, try to avoid the black ones.



CONTROLLABLE 3D PATHWAY

Moving the joystick up or down will move you into or out of 

the screen. Different squares have different trals. If you're

caught in a cage. move your joystick in the directions 

indicated indicated by the arrow below the timer until you 

break out. To land the helicopter press fire.



VERTICALLY SCROLLING ROAD

Moving the joystick up and down will move you up and down. 

Pressing fire causes you to jump. Try to keep moving and watch

out for the black squares. If you use the keyboard option to 

play the game, use the appropriate key to perform the same 

functions as above.



CONTROLS

Joystick or Keyboard

Q - Up

A - Down

O - Left

P - Right

M - Fire

T & Y together will abort the game.



Joystick options

Kempston, Sinclair Interface II





HINTS/CHEATS

47754,0  -  Infinite Lives



RELATED GAMES

No direct sequels or prequels, but other Paul Hargreaves

games include Terminus.



SCORES

YS November 1987, 7/10

Crash issue 45, 86%

ACE Issue 2, Rating 887

Also included in the 'Top 100 games of the last 12 months'

from ACE magazine:

"VINTAGE VALUE 805 - Still a good bouncy ball game

 TIPS - If you're having trouble in the game, remember that

certain squares (diagonal black and white ones) make you

bounce backwards one square - tricky when there are lots of

squares next to each other. The solution is simple - bounce

on to the square and before you bounce back move the joystick

(or keys) to move you in the opposite direction. The square

thinks you've landed it from the opposite direction and thus

bounces you the other way - which is where you want to go!

 TARGET - Complete ten roads without losing a life."



URL

ftp://ftp.nvg.unit.no/pub/sinclair/snaps/games/by-letter/p/

plexar.zip



FACTS

The games real title (i.e the one that the author intended)

is 'The Roads of Plexar', as shown by the loading screen.

Mastertronic had a habit of altering titles like this, but

were by no means the only software house to do so -

Alternative were infamous for their period of re-releasing

old games with new titles, in the belief that this would 

sell more copies.

