Technician Ted

Copyright : Hewson | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

Technician Ted is an enthusiastic young computer hacker who bounces to work at the local Microprocessor Factory every day at 8.30am. Anxious to please, he knows he must complete his 21 daily tasks by clocking off time at 5.00pm or incur the wrath of the Big Boss. But his fiendish boss hasn?t told him what the tasks are or where they are located!

This early plat former later appeared on Amstrad Actionâ??s â??Action Pack 5â?? covertape

Graphics

At first glance, Technician Ted will look like a cheap Jet Set Willy rip-off and while itâ??s look was no doubt inspired by Matthew Smithâ??s seminal game, there is enough variety and originality evident in Ted to help it distinguish itself.

Ted himself is a more everyman character in appearance thanks to his prominent gut and he is faced with some of the most bizarre hazards ever to grace a computer game - giving Miner Willy a run for his money in that department.

The animation, although primative by todayâ??s standards, is fluid and the game maintains a certain charm that helps you see through the thoroughly Spectrum-ness of the colour scheme and character design.

Sound

A pretty flat Tchaikovsky rendition greets Ted upon loading up and it continues throughout the game. The odd bum note is off putting however and mercifully the music can be switched off leaving us with the standard jumping and dying sound effects.

Gameplay

Letâ??s make this clear. Technician Ted is difficult. Very, very difficult. The fact that when you begin the game you only have information on one or two tasks that have to be completed (tasks are solved by jumping on two flashing boxes) and have no idea what order anything is to be done makes things hard enough before you even take into account the crippling time limit. Add to that the tricky nature of getting from one side of a screen to another and the split second timing required to do this and your faced with a potentially stinking game.

But, despite all of this Technician Ted still has enough charm to pull you through and keep you coming back for more. It will be a long time before you have even seen every screen let alone come close to completing the tasks and itâ??s this sense of exploration and wonder that helps to set the game apart from many of its contemporaries.

The difficulty of the game actually works in Technician Tedâ??s favour as it is extremely addictive and keeps you wanting to come back for more.

Although not impossible, Technician Ted is one almighty challenge that will require some real dedication to get anywhere near competing the game.

If you like old school platform games and have already played Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner to death then give Technician Ted a blast, itâ??ll be familiar enough to let you in immediately but there enough independent touches to keep you entertained throughout.