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Gyroscope (video game)

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Gyroscope
Acorn Electron cover art
Developer(s)Catalyst Coders
Publisher(s)Melbourne House
Programmer(s)John Nixon & David Wainwright (Acorn)
"Dubree" (C64)
Steve Lamb, Tony Mack & Dave Dew (Spectrum)
Platform(s)Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Release1985
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Gyroscope is an action video game published by Melbourne House in 1985 for the Acorn Electron, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. It is based on the Atari Games arcade title Marble Madness. Melbourne House would go on to publish the official ports of Marble Madness for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, but these were not based on Gyrosope.

Gameplay

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The gameplay is very similar to Marble Madness except the player controls a spinning gyroscope rather than a marble. The game is presented in isometric 3D. The player must guide the gyroscope from the top of the course to the bottom within an allotted time limit. If the gyroscope topples off the edge, a life is lost. Hazards on the course include potholes, aliens and glass slopes which cause the gyroscope to spin in random directions. There are five courses comprising four screens each. The gyroscope had to land on a marked square to complete each level.

Reception

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Your Sinclair gave the game 9/10,[2] praising the 3D graphics. It was also placed at number 77 in the Your Sinclair top 100.

Electron User gave it a score of 6/10, again praising the graphics but complaining of a number of bugs spoiling "what could be a very good game".[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Game review, Crash issue 23, December 1985, page 40
  2. ^ Gyroscope Archived 2008-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
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