''Technician Ted'' (also known as ''The Chip Factory: Featuring Technician Ted'') is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') 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 Sin ...

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 computers that was written by Steve Marsden and David Cooke and published in 1984 by

Hewson Consultants Hewson Consultants were one of the smaller software companies which produced video games for home computers in the mid-1980s. They had a reputation for high-quality games which continually pushed the boundaries of what the computers were capable ...

Plot

Technician Ted is an enthusiastic young computer hacker who works at the chip factory. He begins his work every day at 8.30am and must complete 21 tasks before clocking off at 5.00pm. Unfortunately, his boss has not told him what the tasks are or where they are located. Ted speaks to his mate, who tells him that his first job is to get to his desk, and from there he must make his way to the "Silicon Slice Store".

Gameplay

''Technician Ted'' is a flick-screen platform game made up of many different named screens. On many of these screens there are two boxes which must be touched in the correct order (the first one will be flashing) in order to complete the task. Some of these tasks must be completed within a time-limit making it important for the player to guide Ted from one box to the other as quickly as possible. As well as the tasks, Ted must avoid the various monsters that lurk in the factory and make sure he completes all of his tasks within the game's time limit so he can finish his day. The in-game music is an adaptation of the

Radetzky March "Radetzky March", Op. 228, is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. and dedicated to Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. First performed on 31 August 1848 in Vienna, it soon became popular among regimented marching soldiers. It has bee ...

Johann Strauss Sr. Johann Baptist Strauss I (; also Johann Strauss Sr., the Elder, the Father; 14 March 1804 – 25 September 1849) was an Austrian composer of the Romantic Period. He was famous for his light music, namely waltzes, polkas, and galops, which he ...

The Spectrum and Amstrad versions feature a sprite-animated loading screen with a countdown timer, a significant technical achievement at the time.

Reception

When reviewed in ''Crash'' magazine the game scored an Overall 96%. When ''Technician Ted'' was reviewed by ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History The ...

'' magazine in 1985 it was awarded 6/10 although a review of the re-released game by the same magazine in 1989 awarded it 8/10. In 1992, it was placed at number 84 in the "Your Sinclair official top 100".

Legacy

''Technician Ted'' was followed by a sequel, '' Costa Capers'', in 1985. In 1986, Hewson published a special version of the game exclusively for 128K ZX Spectrums called ''Technician Ted - The Megamix''. As well as featuring 100 extra rooms, this version also has three-channel chip music and the tasks have been numbered in order to make the order they are to be done in easier to understand.

References

External links

* {{WoS game, id=0005160 1984 video games Amstrad CPC games Hewson Consultants games Platform games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games