Game Footage

It's a race against the clock, as you take on some of the fiercest Kung Fu fighting Ninjas the Spectrum has ever seen. Would-be anarchist Sue Denham dons her fighting togs and battles through the endless maze of Dwell Software's smash game Saboteur.
    There have been a fair few martial arts games released or due for imminent release on the Spectrum of late - System 3's International Karate, Melbourne House's The Way Of The Exploding Fist, Imagine's Yie Ar Kung Fu and US Gold's Bruce Lee to name but a few! But none is quite like the latest offering from Durell Software.
    The scenario for Saboteur thrusts you into the part of a sabotaging Ninja warrior, sneaking around an enemy warehouse that's much more than it seems at first sight. Your task is to search out a floppy disk from one of the many computer terminals scattered around the computer complex and escape with it. But before you go, you've got to leave a little present for your pursuers - a time bomb. Which doesn't leave you too much room to negotiate a safe path home!
    The game itself comprises 118 different screens, which all go to make up the four-level warehouse - there is the warehouse itself, a computer complex, and two layers of labyrinth-like sewers; the latter areas have a tendency to look the same, which can be a great problem for those who have an aversion to making maps of the best route to safety. All the weapons a self-respecting Ninja could want, can be found by stumbling across them on your adventures. But you can only hold one weapon at a time and, once you've used it, you'll have to search round for another. Points are awarded for killing the guards - by weapons or skilful use of martial arts - but your real adversary is time... and the final objective of stealing the floppy disk and getting clear of the warehouse before the fuse burns down.
    Overall, the game is addictive and great fun. There are nine levels of difficulty - but on the easiest level, you can work out the structure of the game and prepare yourself for the terrors of playing at the higher levels. Map-makers will be in their element when they first start playing the game, but it will be the rugged Kung Fu fighters who will out in the end.
    Saboteur manages to combine the good graphical representations of the other Kung Fu games with the solid background of an action-packed story. One to be recommended.

Ratings given by other magazines

9/10      9/10    Crash Review SU Review

Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database

YS Cross-references
		Saboteur (in Big Four)	YS13	UNR
		Saboteur/Encore	YS34	8
		Saboteur (in Frank Bruno's Big Box)	YS38
		Saboteur/Encore	YS38	9
		Saboteur (in The YS Official Top 100 Part 2)	YS71	No.55
Some info from Sinclair Infoseek+SPOT*ON