"I hate girls" someone's scrawled on the blackboard in BACK TO SKOOL. Well, at least they spelt it write!
About a year ago Skool Daze was released and was a highly acclaimed game. Back to Skool has you once more playing the part of the mischievous Eric, and is a follow on from the last game. The object of Skool Daze was to steal your terrible school report; now a new term has started, you have spent the hols forging a glowing report for yourself, and must sneak it back into the headmaster's safe.
A couple of years ago your big brother encountered the same problem and he has very generously lent you his copy of the School rules, on which he has scribbled a few notes in invisible ink. Holding the paper over a fire made from the swot's cap reveals some hints on how you can go about achieving your task - and Microsphere have kindly printed them on the cassette inlay to help you get started.
On loading the game a 10 second countdown commences and if you press a key during this time then you can select from the joystick options or alter the names of the characters in the game. Once you have finished this, then the game itself starts with you in the playground controlling Eric.
As might be expected, Eric is still a true Menace and much use of catapult, stink bomb and water pistol is required to progress through the game - you start off with the catty, but will have to find other weapons en route. Teachers roam the corridors and classrooms, always eager to dish out lines and generally be obstructive. While you don't have lives as such, collect too many lines and the game ends.
Over the holidays, a few building alterations have been completed. There is now an assembly hall where the Headmaster puts the whole school in detention etc. Also the science room has expanded and it is from here that frogs are obtained - very useful in the Girls School down the road! You have to venture into the other school in order to get the key to the safe. In this game you also have a girlfriend: appropriately enough, you have a kiss option... There's also a bike available, which starts off locked to a tree - a bit of teacher torturing is needed to collect the combination to the lock, but once the bike's free you can cycle around performing a range of stunts.
One of the most innovative features in both Skool Daze and Back to Skool is the way in which you have to interact with other characters in order to complete the game. Eric has the ability to punch other school chums (including the girls) as well as walk, jump, ride the bike and write on blackboards. In order to complete your tasks you inevitably have to 'bunk' off lessons, which can mean the Swot telling on you and thus a lot more lines - but then if you are extra nice to your girlfriend then she might do some of them for you. A status block at the bottom of the screen lets you know your score so far, the number of lines you've collected and the high score so far. As you enter classrooms they are identified for you via a message at the bottom of the screen. Calls for assembly, playtime and other hallmarks of the school day also appear for your guidance.
Producer: Microsphere
Price: £6.95
Language: machine code
Author: Dave Reedy
