''Doctor Who and the Mines of Terror'' is a game 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 ...

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

and

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 ...

. It was first released by

Micro Power Micro Power was a British company established in the early 1980s by former accountant Bob Simpson. The company was best known as a video game publisher, originally under the name Program Power. It also sold many types of computer hardware and s ...

on the BBC Micro in 1985, and on the Amstrad CPC & C64 in 1986.

Gameplay

left, In-game screenshot (BBC Micro) The game's play centres on the player's character of the

Doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

(specifically his sixth incarnation), and his robotic programmable cat Splinx. The goal of the game is to halt the

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

's production of Heatonite, retrieve stolen plans for the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

s, and return safely. The game's screen always has the player in the centre, and depending on the direction of movement, the entire screen scrolls horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The player can move freely, but can die in many ways: monster attack, robot attack, too great a fall, forced regeneration, lack of oxygen, and sharp spikes. Enemies include patrolling robots that resemble the

Daleks The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

; however, the actual name and exact design of the Daleks was not used due to the rights to them being part owned by

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Survivo ...

, creator of the Daleks.

Development and release

The game began life as a sequel to the hit BBC Micro game '' Castle Quest'', and was adapted into a ''Doctor Who'' game mid-development. As it was too large to fit into the standard memory of the BBC Micro, it came with its own

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

chip which had to be installed for the game to run in conjunction with game's main disk.

Reception

Zzap!64's reviewers noted the game's similarity to ''Castle Quest''. They found that despite average graphics and weak sound, it was an enjoyable release thanks to the entertaining gameplay. It was rated 86% overall. ASM gave the game 4 out of 10, saying the game was trite.

References

External links

* {{Micro Power 1985 video games Amstrad CPC games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games Cancelled ZX Spectrum games Video games based on Doctor Who Video games developed in the United Kingdom Sixth Doctor stories Micro Power games