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Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1986 video game)
Encyclopedia
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a computer game released in for the Sinclair Spectrum
, Amstrad CPC
and MSX
. It is based on the 1978 comedy film of the same name
.
The player takes control of Wimp Plasbot, who works in a tomato puree plant, and must rid the plant of the mutated killer tomatoes, referred to in the title.
The player must control Wimp as he explores various isometric 3D
rooms, and attempts to destroy the mutated killer tomatoes. There are three different types of tomato to be found in the factory: Killer tomatoes walk around on legs, in square patterns and will kill Wimp if they touch him. Wimp must destroy these tomatoes by crushing them with a hammer, which can be found somewhere in the factory. The second type of tomato bounce up and down. Wimp must stop them bouncing by squirting them with tomato sauce, then take them to the crusher to keep up the supply of tomato puree. The third type of tomato sit on the floor of the factory and, if Wimp touches them, they cause the time on the clock to accelerate for a short while. If "clocking off" time is reached before all the killer tomatoes have been destroyed then the player loses. Punch cards can be found around the factory which will give the player extra time.
giving it 89%, Your Sinclair
rating it at 8/10, and ZX Computing rating it as Great.
CRASH
said of the game "Despite the awfulness of the movie of the same name, AKT is an excellent game, though it does owe quite a lot to previous releases.", Rachael Smith from Your Sinclair
said that "...in converting the film nominated Worst Vegetable Movie of all time Global has created a tie-in far better than the original deserved - and far better than many superior films have received!" and ZX Computing said that "Killer Tomatoes is quite a complex, and very professionally produced game that should keep you occupied for quite a while, but its similarity to all the other Knight Lore
inspired titles left me feeling that it didn't really offer anything I hadn't seen before.".
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
. It is based on the 1978 comedy film of the same name
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a 1978 comedy film directed by John De Bello and starring David Miller. The film is a spoof of B movies. Made on a budget of less than US$100,000, the story involves tomatoes becoming sentient by unknown means and revolting against humanity. Writing credits were...
.
The player takes control of Wimp Plasbot, who works in a tomato puree plant, and must rid the plant of the mutated killer tomatoes, referred to in the title.
Story
Wimp Plasbot checked in at 9:00, and was just about to begin another day's work, when he discovered that the tomatoes had mutated. Wimp must destroy the killer tomatoes while ensuring that the pizza parlours are still supplied with puree from the bouncing ones.Gameplay
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
rooms, and attempts to destroy the mutated killer tomatoes. There are three different types of tomato to be found in the factory: Killer tomatoes walk around on legs, in square patterns and will kill Wimp if they touch him. Wimp must destroy these tomatoes by crushing them with a hammer, which can be found somewhere in the factory. The second type of tomato bounce up and down. Wimp must stop them bouncing by squirting them with tomato sauce, then take them to the crusher to keep up the supply of tomato puree. The third type of tomato sit on the floor of the factory and, if Wimp touches them, they cause the time on the clock to accelerate for a short while. If "clocking off" time is reached before all the killer tomatoes have been destroyed then the player loses. Punch cards can be found around the factory which will give the player extra time.
Reception
Reviews were fairly positive, with CRASHCRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
giving it 89%, Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
rating it at 8/10, and ZX Computing rating it as Great.
CRASH
CRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
said of the game "Despite the awfulness of the movie of the same name, AKT is an excellent game, though it does owe quite a lot to previous releases.", Rachael Smith from Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
said that "...in converting the film nominated Worst Vegetable Movie of all time Global has created a tie-in far better than the original deserved - and far better than many superior films have received!" and ZX Computing said that "Killer Tomatoes is quite a complex, and very professionally produced game that should keep you occupied for quite a while, but its similarity to all the other Knight Lore
Knight Lore
Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used Ultimate's filmation engine to achieve a 3D look...
inspired titles left me feeling that it didn't really offer anything I hadn't seen before.".