''One Man and His Droid'' is a game published by

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved b ...

in 1985 for use on the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family,

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

, and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

home computer systems. The name of the game is a play on the title of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television show ''

One Man and His Dog ''One Man and His Dog'' is a BBC television series in the United Kingdom featuring sheepdog trials, originally presented by Phil Drabble, with commentary by Eric Halsall and, later, by Ray Ollerenshaw. It was first aired on 17 February 1976 and ...

''. The object of the game is to use a doglike droid to collect Ramboids, the male form of alien sheep. The player must move these Ramboids into teleporters to win the game.

Gameplay

Before the game begins, the player is given the option of inputting a password in order to resume a game they were playing earlier, otherwise starting at the beginning. There are passwords for each of the twenty different ramboid-filled caverns, and as the player progresses through each cavern, the computer releases the corresponding password. At the start of a game, the screen is split up into several different windows. Largest and centrally placed is the main window that looks into a

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

rn, displaying a view of the droid placed centrally amongst the scenery. The first task is to guide the droid to the start position. Ramboids are dim. They move very predictably, and always reverse their direction of movement if their way is blocked. They are also delicate creatures that only live for about twenty minutes. The player is working against the clock all the time. Should the player fail to get at least four Ramboids in the teleport in the right order within the time, play is returned to the first screen.

Music

The music for the Commodore 64 version was composed by Rob Hubbard. Commodore 64 enthusiasts and former owners frequently list Hubbard's composition as being one of the finest to feature in any game released for that machine. Hubbard himself states that he took inspiration from Jean-Michel Jarres' album Magnetic Fields for this song. The Atari 8-bit and Amstrad versions had a different theme, which was shorter.

Reception

''Zzap!64s reviewers thought that, although the game had basic graphics, it was enjoyable to play, with the bonus of a good soundtrack. It was given an overall rating of 81%.

Legacy

A follow-up, ''One Man and his Droid II'', was written for the ZX Spectrum in 1991 but wasn't commercially published. It was eventually released on the internet in 2001 by its programmer, Clive Brooker.

References

External links

''Crash'' magazine review
*{{WoS game, id=0003523
''One Man and His Droid''
at Plus/4 World. 1985 video games Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games Commodore 64 games ZX Spectrum games Mastertronic games Amstrad CPC games Atari 8-bit family games Video games scored by Rob Hubbard Video games developed in the United Kingdom Single-player video games Action video games Puzzle video games Video games about robots