Platform: ZX Spectrum
Authors: Jon Ritman and Bernie Drummond
Publisher: Ocean

This is, quite frankly, one of the best Spectrum games ever written. Those of you who've only played a few Spectrum games, and played those recently on an emulator may not think that that's saying much, but give it a chance! Once you get into it, it's an extremely absorbing game that can, even today, eat hours of your time.

The plot is a run-of-the-mill story about an oppressive dictator (called Blacktooth if I remember correctly) who holds sway over a system of five planets. The two main characters, called Head and Heels, are dissidents who have been imprisoned for their radical views. However, all is not lost because the evil Emperor has made the classic and all too common mistake of leaving teleports to the outside world in Head's and Heels' cells. What Head and Heels do then is entirely up to you, the player. Well, okay, so not entirely. The choice is between going straight back to your homeland or liberating a planet or five before going home. And that is one of the many strong points of this game - you can do as much or as little as you like depending on your skill level/amount of time you have. Want a quick game? Just try and get home. Want a small challenge? Liberate a couple of planets (Penitentiary and Safari are the two easiest) before leaving. Want an extreme challenge (one that I just cannot do, for love nor money)? Then try and liberate the planet Blacktooth itself!

Head and Heels have different characteristics that have to be used effectively to solve the many puzzles that they are faced with. Head is a slow character, you see. He can't walk very fast at all, but boy can he jump! Okay, so he can't jump that high (two blocks, in fact), but he does glide rather nicely. He also has a hooter, which he uses to shoot donuts at the baddies, which makes them freeze. They're licking the donut from their face, obviously! Heels, however, is a fast little critter who can't jump for toffee (one block only), and doesn't have access to a hooter, either. He has something far more useful, though: a bag. This bag allows him to pick up and carry (within a screen) various blocks. This means that each character is suited to solving one specific type of puzzle only. For example, Head can climb ladders (like the one in his prison cell, which you'll have to learn to climb if you're going to progress through the game), and Heels can place blocks on top of each other to reach hitherto unreachable places. But, it doesn't end there. Oh no. As you can see in the picture above, Head and Heels can join together, with Head sitting on top of Heels (hence the name of the game). This combination lets them have both characters' abilities at the same time, allowing for even more puzzle solving abilities.

The real genius of this game lies in the screens where you have to split Head and Heels to solve a puzzle. For example, see the screen shot below:

This is the final room of the planet Penitentiary, and it contains the crown that you need to get if you're to liberate the planet from the tyranny of the Blacktooth Empire. To get the crown, however, requires Head and Heels to work together (as in a team), but separately (as in not joined). If you push the block that Heels is by before Head is in the room, you'll be in big trouble...

To conclude, if you're prepared to give this game the chance it deserves, you should get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Then again, I'm speaking from the point of view of someone who had the game when they were younger, and when the Spectrum was the best computer of its type around. If you're used to the likes of Unreal and Starcraft, you may have a different view. I'll try and get my girlfriend to review it, so you can have the opinion of a non-Spectrum lover, but until then my verdict is all you're getting. And the verdict is that this is a top class game. Take into account that you can get it for free (look at The Specturm FAQ to find links to all you could ever want or need), and you really can't lose.