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mmMmmmmM^M<br />
Legend of the<br />
Century<br />
Century Software, part of Century<br />
Communications which in<br />
turn is a division of Century<br />
Publishing Co., have released<br />
the most impressive looking<br />
package for the 48K Spectrum<br />
that I have seen so far! in a large<br />
library case type plastic box<br />
comes Legend, the game and<br />
the book. The cost for the complete<br />
set is E 1 4.95 and of that<br />
the book has a price of £2 .95. A<br />
colourful map and a leaflet of instructions<br />
are also supplied.<br />
The novel, so Century assure<br />
me, is in its fourth printing so it<br />
seems unfair that you have to<br />
buy the book again if you've<br />
already got it, just to get the<br />
game.<br />
I was able to sit down one<br />
night to read this tome and I must<br />
admit that I enjoyed it, it's a<br />
"sword and sorcery" novelwith<br />
overtones of the Alamo and King<br />
Arthur, but very well written<br />
Eureka = £25,000<br />
From Domark comes Eureka,<br />
five games in one package, each<br />
consisting of a simple, but not so<br />
easy, arcade style game followed<br />
by a full blooded adventure<br />
game. The graphics in the<br />
adventure game are very good<br />
indeed, and it is very difficult.<br />
Well, it would have to be with<br />
£25,000 at stake wouldn't it?<br />
The five sections represent<br />
20<br />
with good characters and a<br />
compulsive plot. It is however,<br />
full of blood and guts and may<br />
not be everyone's idea of<br />
wholesome reading 1 The game<br />
is actually two programs, and<br />
viewed in this light it seems less<br />
expensive. The first part is an interesting<br />
mix of multiple choice<br />
adventure and the classic problem<br />
solving adventure. Also<br />
within this section is a graphic<br />
combat sequence (all opponents<br />
look strangely similar) which<br />
needs fast reactions and skill to<br />
surive, and an arcade sequence<br />
which is reasonable.<br />
The text is quite verbose, and<br />
I found it sucessfully recreated<br />
the atmosphere of the book,<br />
although the action does not<br />
necessarily follow the original<br />
plot. Some of the problems were<br />
rather irritating. The second section.<br />
which can be played independently.<br />
is a strategic<br />
simulation and it's not easy at<br />
all! I liked it and wish I had more<br />
time to discover the subtleties of<br />
playing this game.<br />
five historical time periods;<br />
Prehistoric, Roman. Celtic, Wartime<br />
Germany and Modern Carribean<br />
and you have to collect a<br />
piece of a talisman from each.<br />
The accompanying booklet is<br />
beautifully illustrated and, all in<br />
all, at first impression, this is a<br />
well produced set of programs<br />
which is worth the money toexperienced<br />
adventurers, even<br />
without the prize.<br />
Eureka is £1 4 .95 from most<br />
stores.<br />
SOFTWARE NEWS<br />
Frankie all at sea<br />
Anyone standing in front of<br />
Ocean must feel a bit like King<br />
Canute there's no stopping<br />
them! Ocean recently bought<br />
the sole rights to a major portion<br />
of the assets of Imagine, the<br />
software company who shone<br />
brightly and briefly before burning<br />
themselves out. The Name,<br />
Logo and trading style are included<br />
in this deal, and a little<br />
bird tells me that eight of the programmers<br />
from Imagine have<br />
been working on a contract<br />
basis to produce "Gift from the<br />
Gods" a brilliant animated<br />
strategy/adventure game which<br />
I had a quick look at and found<br />
very impressive. "Match Day"<br />
is probably one of the best ai<br />
cade versions of football for the<br />
Spectrum, allowing from one to<br />
eight players and joystick operation.<br />
We'll get our reviewer to<br />
look at it in detail for the next<br />
issue.<br />
But to our headline. Ocean<br />
have concluded yet another<br />
deal, this time with Island<br />
records and ZTT. These are the<br />
main producers of the band<br />
"Frankie Goes To Hollywood"<br />
(What do you mean, never heard<br />
of them — Relax!). So, soon<br />
we'll be seeing them on our<br />
screen, I wonder if they'll<br />
manage to get some of their<br />
controversial ideas over in the<br />
game? I must consult Mike<br />
Read.<br />
ACTIVITY FROM<br />
ACTIVISION<br />
After seeing much advertising<br />
we received the latest from this<br />
experienced company. Space<br />
Shuttle is an unusual variation<br />
on the flight simulation theme,<br />
as such it demands a great deal<br />
of patience, practice and skill. If<br />
you can land your plane blindfold<br />
on one of the other simulator<br />
programs, then give this one a<br />
whirl at£7.99.<br />
Beamrider is a fairly standard<br />
"zap the aliens" program and<br />
didn't really get the adrenalin going,<br />
but if you are a fan of this<br />
kind of program then it is one<br />
worth considering at £7.99 .<br />
Pitfall II took my fancy, it's a<br />
graphic arcade adventure game<br />
which is very addictive, has<br />
good graphics and is very<br />
playable. £8.99.<br />
The Pencil looks interesting,<br />
a graphics and music language<br />
which has traces of LOGO in it,<br />
however it is worth looking at<br />
more closely and I'll get some-<br />
ZX COMPUTING APRIL/MAY 1985
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