[{"TitleName":"Emerald Isle","Publisher":"Level 9 Computing Ltd","Author":"James Horsler, Pete Austin, Shaun D. Abbott, Godfrey Dowson","YearOfRelease":"1985","ZxDbId":"0006249","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 16, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-25","Editor":"Roger Kean","TotalPages":148,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Roger Kean\r\nAssistant Editor: Graeme Kidd\r\nTechnical Editor: Franco Frey\r\nArt Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nProduction Designer: David Western\r\nSoftware Editor: Jeremy Spencer\r\nAdventure Reviewer: Derek Brewster\r\nStrategy Reviewer: Angus Ryall\r\nStaff Writer: Lloyd Mangram\r\nContributing Writers: Matthew Uffindel, Chris Passey, Robin Candy, Ben Stone\r\nClient Liaison: John Edwards\r\nSubscription Manager: Denise Roberts\r\n\r\n©1985 Newsfield Limited.\r\nCrash Magazine is published monthly by Newsfield Ltd. [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions [redacted]\r\nEditorial/studio [redacted]\r\nAdvertising [redacted]\r\nHot Line [redacted]\r\n\r\nColour origination by Scan Studios, [redacted]; Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset Ltd (Member of the BPCC Group), [redacted].\r\nDistribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nCirculation Manager: Tom Hamilton\r\nAll circulation enquiries should ring [redacted]\r\n\r\nSubscriptions: 12 issues £10.50 (UK Mainland post free), Europe: 12 issues £17.50 post free. Outside Europe by arrangement in writing.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return any written material sent to CRASH Magazine unless accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material which may be used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates. The opinions and views of correspondents are their own and not necessarily in accord with those of the publishers.\r\n\r\nCover by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"EMERALD ISLE\r\n\r\nProducer: Level 9 Computing\r\nRetail Price: £9.95\r\nLanguage: Machine code\r\nAuthor: Shaun Abbott and Pete Austin\r\n\r\nIf Level 9 were in the pop world they would be somewhere up there with The Police because their success is grounded in a deep understanding of their subject coupled with an uncanny knack of always remaining commercial. To stay at the top by standing on old successes is not enough, a fact with which Level 9 are fully aware, and so here we have their eleventh release and it's not only good - it is perceptably better.\r\n\r\nThe packaging is now a distinctive trademark; large, crisply printed with the familiar Level 9 logo and that substantive, rather expensive feel. No booklet to wade through this time though, only a few concise instructions on the reverse of a stylish drawing, a half-poster size version of the one on the front of the box. Admittedly art work can be expensive, but when it is of a high standard it really does add to your enjoyment of a game (and arty types always liven up a computer project).\r\n\r\nLoading up reveals much made familiar by Return to Eden but one aspect is very new. On entering a location a smaller facsimile of the larger picture is very quickly drawn up on the top left portion before expanding to cover the entire width of the screen. The eventual full-size picture appears to be derived from the smaller by an enlargement brought about chiefly by widening the compact version. It would seem this process aids picture design and implementation though I am not totally sure in what way this is achieved.\r\n\r\nFamiliar features are the type-ahead, which allows commands to be entered while the program is busy drawing pictures, the A(GAIN) command which repeats the last entry, and the use of IT taken as the previous specified object eg, LIGHT LAMP, then EXAMINE IT. One aspect of the game can slow you up should you be a shade clever with the type-ahead. Although the type-ahead can store tens of moves entered quickly and display their affects as you sit back and watch, the need to press SHIFT whenever a location requires more space for the location description rather negates this. So a modifier is to say you can sit back and watch with your finger on the SHIFT key. All the same, this remains a very impressive feature.\r\n\r\nThe Emerald Isle is not across the sea from Liverpool (if I were writing for a slick, topicality obsessed magazine I could have contrived something about writing this on St. Patrick's Day - but it isn't, quite). No, this isle is set in that peculiar isosceles, the Bermuda Triangle, a land of mysterious fogs, treacherous waters and lots of angles that never quite add up to one hundred and eighty. Now that I've mentioned the word peculiar, it must have some peculiar significance as it is used to describe just about everything on the cover. 'Explore peculiar towns, meet peculiar people, learn the peculiar purpose of the \"letters\" and travel on a railway which is simplicity itself when compared to BR's peculiar fare system.' Peculiar indeed, but what are these 'letters'? Well, as you go about your travels you bump into the occasional vowel or consonant simply left lying around in your path. A 'W' is discovered cut into a lawn while an 'A' is found hanging in mid-air. Curious, but what we might come to expect from a software team quickly developing an in-house sense of humour nurtured in Return to Eden. Anyway, enough of this Salinger-like rambling and back to the plot.\r\n\r\nYou play the part of an aircraft pilot employed to ferry urgent documents around the Carribbean. Fierce winds seize the plane over the infamous triangle and you escape with your life at the last moment. As you parachute down to the island below you recognise the coastline of the Emerald Isle from an old map. It is a lonely atoll rarely visited and from which none have returned. It is said only one person may leave and that is the ruler of the land. Success can promote an explorer to King or Queen but failure is suitably unrewarding.\r\n\r\nYou start off with your parachute snagged on a branch of a mangrove tree, leaving you helplessly dangling high above the jungle floor. Escaping this ungainly (and dangerous) predicament, you fall into a mangrove maze which, thankfully, proves simple enough and resolved on a little wandering. Not far to the east you meet the first of many lengthy descriptions. 'You are on the main square of the tree city, standing on a platform of wooden boards between which you can glimpse the twilight jungle below. Light wooden buildings surround the square and walkways lead away in many directions.' And so the story unfolds with the ticket office kindly supplying a season ticket to take you on from the King's palatial surroundings to the more rugged environs to the east of the island. All is dependable, plausible stuff with the odd humorous interlude to lighten the proceedings. Although few obvious puzzles demand attention, and it is very easy to wander around the countless locations, it would be imprudent to assume there is nothing to this adventure. Too many early objects or occurences are enigmatic to believe you have the run of things (eg, the seamstress with her unfinished garments, or the many inoperative doors and barriers) and if you were to check how you're doing, you'd be alarmed at the meagreness of your score.\r\n\r\nThe game runs smoothly, oiled by an exceptionally friendly vocabulary and a brevity that allows the first three letters of verb or noun or even just WA for WAIT for the train, and A for AGAIN until it arrives. ENT by itself has you boarding the train and merrily on your way. Other refinements become apparent with much play with the charming detail of L and R turning you left and right. The examine command is particularly helpful, giving a response when brought to bear on almost any object - EXAM TICKET gives, 'Looks tatty. It's valid for any one journey - just present it when you get on a train. It's quite small.' In general, the width of response is tremendous, all is intelligent and often witty too.\r\n\r\nThe quality of the pictures varies but there are graphics at each location and many are of a very high standard. As might be expected in a game with over 200 locations, many pictures are repeated or only modified so that three or four patterns become quite familiar after playing for a while. I particularly liked the picture of the railway station which makes you feel as if you really are there. The pictures can be discarded with WORDS when progress is then made rapid, aided by a very sure input making full use of the type-ahead.\r\n\r\nEmerald Isle is a game which takes all the best aspects of adventuring and moulds them into a huge, yet detailed story which will have you engrossed for hours. It brings a fresh friendliness to the scene as not only is the vocabulary helpful, the structure is most open and even a beginner will find progress easy, interesting and rewarding. If only more adventure houses could achieve Level 9.\r\n\r\nCOMMENTS\r\n\r\nDifficulty: moderate\r\nGraphics: on every location, large and generally good\r\nPresentation: good\r\nInput facility: verb/noun\r\nResponsibility: instantaneous without graphics, a few seconds with graphics but you can type in while graphics are drawing","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"General Rating: Very good.","Page":"113,114","Denied":false,"Award":"Crash Smash","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Derek Brewster","Score":"9","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Pictured above, 100 of the 240 screens from 'EMERALD ISLE'."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Vocabulary","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Logic","Score":"9/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Debugging","Score":"10/10","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall Value","Score":"9/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Your Spectrum Issue 14, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Kevin Cox","TotalPages":74,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Kevin Cox\r\nArt Editor: Hazel Bennington\r\nDeputy Editor: Peter Shaw\r\nProduction Editor: Louise Cook\r\nArt Assistant: Martin Dixon\r\nEditorial Consultant: Andrew Pennell\r\nSoftware Consultant: Gavin Monk\r\nContributors: Stephen Adams, Dave Nicholls, Roger Willis, Ross Holman, Terry Bulfib, Chris Wood, Sue Denham, SQ Factor, Tony Samuels, AM Grant, B Hobson\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Joe Harrower\r\nAdvertisement Executive: David Baskerville\r\nProduction Manager: Sonia Hunt\r\nGroup Advertisement Manager: Jill Harris\r\nGroup Art Director: Jimmy Egerton\r\nManaging Editor: Roger Munford\r\nPublisher: Stephen England\r\n\r\nPublished by Sportscene Specialist Press Ltd, [redacted] Company registered in England. Telephone (all departments): [redacted]\r\nTypesetters: Carlinpoint [redacted]\r\nReproduction: Graphic Ideas, London\r\nPrinters: Chase Web Offset [redacted]\r\nDistribution: Seymour Press [redacted]\r\n\r\nAll material in Your Spectrum ©1985 Felden productions, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of the publishers. Your Spectrum is a monthly publication."},"MainText":"EMERALD ISLE\r\nLevel 9\r\n£6.95\r\n\r\r\nIt's always been tricky to find fault with Level 9's adventures on technical grounds. They have had one major drawback though - the £9.95 price tag! Let's hope that Emerald Isle represents a change of heart - it retails for £6.95. The question is, of course, has the quality of the game suffered? Well, as far as I can see the answer's no; there are still over 200 locations and bags of atmosphere and puzzles.\r\n\r\nYou are the pilot of a light aircraft, forced to bail out while flying through the Bermuda Triangle. At the start you're to be found hanging by your parachute (nasty Ed.) from a tree on a strange island. Once you've come down to earth, you're faced with the harder task of finding a way off the island - and only the ruler of the land is allowed to leave. The good news though is that the throne is up for grabs - the bad news is that you have to prove yourself worthy!\r\n\r\nEvery location has long textual descriptions along with a picture filling the top half of the screen. It's a shame but the pictures don't really add a lot to the game and I tended to turn them off after a while to speed things up. The atmosphere is maintained by loads of different messages and you'll get a 'clever' response to most of your inputs. I wasn't too sure about the 'I nearly understand' message though - I'm sure it means nothing of the sort!\r\n\r\nIf you're a fan of Level 9, then all you need to know is that they've done it again. If you're new to adventuring or if you've always shied away from paying a tenner for a game, then Emerald Isle could be just the introduction you've been waiting for.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"33","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Dave Nicholls","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Level 9's Emerald Isle - a full-blown adventure for a budget price"}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 38, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Bill Scolding","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"EDITORIAL\r\nEditor: Bill Scolding\r\nDeputy Editor: John Gilbert\r\nStaff Writer: Chris Bourne, Clare Edgeley\r\nDesigner: Craig Kennedy\r\nEditorial Secretary: Norisah Fenn\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAdvertising Manager: Rob Cameron\r\nDeputy Advertisement Manager: Louise Fanthorpe\r\nAdvertisement Sales Executive: Kathy McLennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Jim McClure\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\n\r\nMAGAZINE SERVICES\r\nSubscriptions Manager: Carl Dunne\r\n\r\nTELEPHONE\r\nAll departments [redacted]\r\n\r\nSinclair User is published monthly by EMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n\r\nIf you would like to contribute to Sinclair User please send programs or articles to:\r\nSinclair User\r\nEMAP Business & Computer Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nOriginal programs should be on cassette and articles should be typed. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included.\r\n\r\nWe pay £20 for each program printed and £50 for star programs.\r\n\r\nTypeset by Saffron Graphics Ltd, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Peterboro' Web, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458\r\n\r\n91,901 Jun-Dec 1984"},"MainText":"Publisher: Level 9\r\n48K Spectrum\r\nPrice: £6.95\r\n\r\nThe Bermuda Triangle is a far call from the more prosaic charms of an English holiday resort. In Emerald Isle by Level 9 you find yourself hanging by your parachute cords after your plane has been destroyed by the strange forces at work in that part of the world.\r\n\r\nAround you is the tropical forest of the island. Only one person may ever leave this place - the ruler of the land - and your aim is to amass the treasures needed to attain this pinnacle of social status. When you've collected them you must work out the correct method to become king.\r\n\r\nThe program is another graphic adventure in Level 9's new style and boasts 200 pictures with a similar number of locations. To be frank, many of the pictures add precious little to the game and I could quite happily have done without graphics showing the bare walls of a room or an expanse of sand.\r\n\r\nDespite the graphic overload there are still the kind of descriptions and complexities which adventure veterans expect from the company. Even though Level 9 state specifically that Emerald Isle is an easier game than usual - and costs correspondingly less - the clue sheet still runs to over 500 items.\r\n\r\nAfter extricating yourself from the parachute you make your way to the royal palace in Tree City. There you will begin to get some idea of the way the island operates and should find the railway which can transport you to other parts.\r\n\r\nI was quickly befuddled by the vast amount of detail - this initial sense of bewilderment seems to be one of Level 9's hallmarks. There is never a simple progression from one easily solved puzzle to another. You never know whether an item you find will have one or many uses, and the wealth of information helps develop involvement and atmosphere.\r\n\r\nThe island setting is becoming a classic scenario for adventures but it is not often that you get quite so much for your money. As well as the mandatory volcano, natives, cannibals and coconuts to deal with, you will have to know what to do with carbide granules, ticket machines and lots more.\r\n\r\nAt £6.95 Emerald Isle is competitively priced and offers a style and sophistication hard to beat. If you're already a committed Level 9 fan you're unlikely to be disappointed, even if it is easier than usual. I'm still trying to read those damned foreign inscriptions.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"113","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Richard Price","Score":"4","ScoreSuffix":"/5"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"4/5","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"C&VG (Computer & Video Games) Issue 43, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-16","Editor":"Tim Metcalfe","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Tim Metcalfe\r\nDeputy Editor: Wendie Pearson\r\nEditorial Assistant: Lesley Walker\r\nStaff Writer/Reader Services: Seamus St. John\r\nDesigner: Brian Cookman\r\nProduction Editor: Mary Morton\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Louise Matthews\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Bernard Dugdale\r\nAdvertising Executive: Sean Brennan\r\nProduction Assistant: Melanie Paulo\r\nPublisher: Rita Lewis\r\n\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES POSTAL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. By using the special Postal Subscription Service, copies of COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES can be mailed direct from our offices each month to any address throughout the world. All subscription applications should be sent for processing to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES (Subscription Department), [redacted]. All orders should include the appropriate remittance made payable to COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES. Annual subscription rates (12 issues): UK and Eire: £15. Additional service information including individual overseas airmail rates available upon request. Circulation Department: EMAP National Publications. Published and distributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nPrinted by Severn Valley Press. Typeset by In-Step Ltd.\r\n\r\nCover Illustration and lettering: Jerry Paris\r\n\r\nFantastic Four ©1985 by Marvel Comics Group, a division of Cadence Industries Corporation."},"MainText":"Before offering the third part of the Snowball trilogy to the world, Level 9 have taken time out to squeeze in a \"quickie\". Described by Pete Austin as a slightly easier Adventure than their usual style, Emerald isle is £3 cheaper than the rest of the Level 9 range.\r\n\r\nThe action takes place in and around tree-top cities of wooden buildings, where a contest for the heir to the throne is about to take place. Presumably it is your object to win and take over from the existing king! How you set about this task is a problem in itself, since the rules and conditions don't seem to be around.\r\n\r\nBut first you must escape the parachute from which you are dangling at tree-top level, for you have bailed your plane somewhere over the Bermuda triangle. Once down, you find yourself confronted by a maze of branches, through which you must fight your way to enter the city.\r\n\r\nThe usual style of Level 9 text is accompanied by what is becoming the familiar look of Level 9 graphics. These are fast to draw and quite pleasant to look at without being exceptional.\r\n\r\nThere are two commands, WORDS and PICTURES, which toggle the graphics on and off. I found I needed to use these in a number of locations where the text description was longer than the space below the graphics window. Unfortunately, the words don't stop scrolling when the new message reaches the top line of the text window, so one either has to read very quickly, or type WORDS to be able to follow the descriptions.\r\n\r\nI think Pete Austin was being modest when he described this game as easier than usual, judging by the size of the map and number of objects I had amassed compared with my score out of 1,000. All in all, another offering from Level 9 of the high standard we've come to expect.\r\n\r\nEmerald Isle is available for BBC, CBM 64, Spectrum, Amstrad, Atari, Memotech and MSX at E6,95 cassette and for BBC and CBM 64 at £8.95 on disc.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"114","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Keith Campbell","Score":"8","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Personal Rating","Score":"8/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair Programs Issue 31, May 1985","Price":"£0.95","ReleaseDate":"1985-04-18","Editor":"Rebecca Ferguson","TotalPages":60,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Rebecca Ferguson\r\nStaff Writer: Colette McDermott\r\nDesign/Illustration: Elaine Bishop\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Shahid Nizam\r\nProduction Co-ordinator: Serena Hadley\r\nAdvertisement Secretary: Maria Keighley\r\nSubscription Manager: Carl Dunne\r\nPublisher: Neil Wood\r\n\r\nSinclair Programs is published monthly by EMAP Business and Computer Publications.\r\n\r\nTelephone [redacted]\r\n\r\nIf you would like your original programs to be published in Sinclair Programs, please send your contributions, which must not have appeared elsewhere, to:\r\nSinclair Programs\r\nEEC Publications\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nPrograms should be on cassette. We cannot undertake to return them unless a stamped-addressed envelope is included. We pay £25 for the copyright of listings published and £10 for the copyright of listings published in the Beginners' section.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1985 Sinclair Programs\r\nISSN No. 0263-0265\r\n\r\nPrinted and typeset by: Cradley Print PLC, [redacted]\r\n\r\nDistributed by EMAP National Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\nAll subscription enquiries:\r\nMagazine Services,\r\nEMAP Business and Computer Publications\r\n[redcated]\r\n\r\nCover Design: Elaine Bishop"},"MainText":"PRICE: £9.95\r\nGAME TYPE: Adventure\r\n\r\nLevel 9 have done it again. Their new adventure, Emerald Isle, is superb. Jam-pack full of problems, pictures, clues and scenarios, Emerald Isle is a definite winner.\r\n\r\nYou begin the adventure hanging from a parachute, which is the first of a series of tricks played on the experienced adventurer. Surely you have been here before, some other time, some other game? Escape from the parachute leads to a maze. Again, experienced adventurers will cry \"Easy\", but a little too soon. You see, there is no way of mapping this maze, objects dropped within it are lost forever, and your compass is no use at all.\r\n\r\nThe game appears to adapt itself to your skill level. For example, everyone who plays adventures frequently knows that you do not go into the dark without a light. Beginners will stumble blindly through, and find themselves on the right track again.\r\n\r\nThe scope of the game is enormous. Leave the jungle, cross the city, take a train journey and then venture through the mountain and you could still only have scored 30/1000.\r\n\r\nEmerald Isle is a brilliant adventure, buy it at once. Produced for the 48K Spectrum by Level 9 Computing, [redacted].","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"14","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Colette McDermott","Score":"90","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Rating","Score":"90%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Personal Computer News Issue 110, May 1985","Price":"","ReleaseDate":"1985-05-11","Editor":"Peter Worlock","TotalPages":34,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editorial\r\nEditor: Peter Worlock\r\nDeputy Editor: David Guest\r\nProduction Editor: Lauraine Turner\r\nEditor's Assistant: Karen Isaac\r\nFeatures Editor: John Lettice\r\nSoftware Editor: Bryan Skinner\r\nPeripherals Editor: Kenn Garroch\r\nHardware Editor: Stuart Cooke\r\nArt Editor: Dave Alexander\r\nPublisher: Tony Harris\r\nPublishing Manager: Peter Goldstein\r\n\r\nAdvertising\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Sarah Barron\r\nAssistant Advertisement Manager: Laura Cade\r\nSales Executives: Phil Benson, Mike Blackman, Jacqui Edmiston, Andrew Flint, Sarah Musgrave, Tony O'Reilly\r\nProduction: Richard Gaffrey\r\nAdvertisement Assistant: Andrea Laurence\r\nSubscription Enquiries: Gill Stevens\r\nSubscription Address: [redacted]\r\nEditorial Address: [redacted]\r\nAdvertising Address: [redacted]\r\n\r\nPublished by VNU Business Publications, [redacted]\r\n© VNU 1983. No material maybe reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holders.\r\nPhotoset by Quickset, [redacted]\r\nPrinted by Chase Web Offset, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by Seymour Press, [redacted]\r\nRegistered at the PO as a newspaper"},"MainText":"TROPICAL TANGLE\r\n\r\nBob Chappell, forced to bail out in the Bermuda Triangle, finds himself lost in paradise - and the king hates tourists!\r\n\r\nI've started in some weird and wonderful places but never before have I begun an adventure stuck up a tree in a mangrove swamp. The Austen clan from Level 9 Computing had struck again.\r\n\r\nTheir latest text and graphics adventure, Emerald Isle, is available for a wide number of home computers. If you've got an Amstrad, Commodore 64, MSX or Spectrum, the game includes some 240 pictures and about 30K of text. BBC owners should rejoice - their version also has the same number of pictures but a sacrifice comes in the form of reduced text. Atari, Enterprise and Memotech owners get a plain text only version. All versions cost £6.95.\r\n\r\nThe price is lower than other Level 9 games because Emerald Isle is somewhat simpler and easier to solve than the rest of their range. But don't get the idea it's a walkover, because it isn't.\r\n\r\nUP A GUM TREE\r\n\r\nSo what was I doing perched in a tree?\r\n\r\nWell, a few minutes earlier I had been piloting a light aircraft over a tropical island paradise. But, as adventurer's luck would have it, not only had Level 9 set this emerald island in the middle of an azure sea, they had also placed it slap bang in the middle of the dreaded Bermuda Triangle. The parachute tangled round the branches beside me made it clear that I had just bailed out.\r\n\r\nThe objective of the adventure is not just to find the usual cartload of treasures but to try and escape from the island. My immediate problem was to on, tangle myself from the chute and then climb down. Having managed to get my feet safely back on terra firms, I was instantly on the move - straight round in circles, as it happened.\r\n\r\nLay a trail, thought I. Hah! - Level 9 had anticipated that old trick. Persistence paid off and are long I was in the centre of a strange city, set high among the trees.\r\n\r\nThe motto of any seasoned adventurer must ever be 'Lay thy mitts on everything thou canst - thou never knowest when it's going to come in handy, like'.\r\n\r\nJust like Del Boy and Rodney, I followed this illiterate aphorism to the letter and was soon collecting enough objects to start a jumble sale.\r\n\r\nAmong the bric-a-brac I had amassed within a very short time were an ermine robe, a piece of silk, a pot of glue, coins of all values, a railway ticket and an instruction manual (not about opening junk shops). A stopped clock, an invisible barrier and some locked doors were but a few of the first puzzles to give me pause for thought. And where was that darn lamp?\r\n\r\nCharacters appearing quite early in the game included a gullible guard, a sad seamstress and a sniffy butler. I especially liked the testy king: 'Tourists! Will I never get any peace?'\r\n\r\nEmerald Isle has fast if simple graphics which can be switched on and off by a command. As with all Level 9 adventures, you get an immediate response to all text input. It is an enjoyable, fast-moving adventure with plenty to keep the fans happy until the next Level 9 fantasy appears.\r\n\r\nGOLDEN OLDIE\r\n\r\nOne of the all-time great adventures makes a welcome re-appearance on the Commodore 64. Colossal Cave Adventure (Duckworth, £7.95) is the original Crowther and Woods mainframe adventure and follows the original layout quite faithfully.\r\n\r\nTo be fair, other companies have had versions of this favourite available for some time now. Level 9 (Colossal Adventure - unquestionably the best of all the adaptations) and Melbourne House (Classic Adventure)are but two.\r\n\r\nThe adventure is supplied on cassette and the entire program loads into memory. Since no compression techniques seem to have been used, there has been some curtailment of the fulsome text in order to squeeze the game into memory. Colossal Cave Adventure was programmed for the Commodore 64 by Peter Gerrard who is already well-known for his series of books on exploring adventures.\r\n\r\nPast and present owners of the aged Commodore Pet micro will have fond memories of this adventure. It was originally produced for the Pet, on disk, by Commodore guru Jim Butterfield.\r\n\r\nThe famous plot involves a trip around a massive cave complex and appears to have the familiar classic puzzles, traps and mazes. Adventure buffs are likely to come over all nostalgic when I mention such beloved features as the axe-throwing dwarves, the black rod, the nervous bird, Plugh and Xyzzy.\r\n\r\nEvery adventurer worthy of the name should have at least one version of the Crowther and Woods masterpiece in their collection. This one is a competent translation and should certainly provide a good deal of pleasure.\r\n\r\nDUNGEONADE\r\n\r\nThinking to curry flavour by gleefully reporting the misfortunes of others, an apprentice bat has whispered in the Dungeon Master's ear that many wretches are unable to progress beyond the first half of Castle of Terror (Melbourne House). To them comes the Dungeon Master's benevolent, helping hand while to the malodorous bat has come intimate knowledge of a more culinary meaning of the word curry.\r\n\r\n- Old man not very talkative? NAM OT ELA EVIG NEHT ELA YUB\r\n\r\n- Can't wedge open the drawbridge? First: LLIM DNOCES EHT OT NNI KCUD MORFTSAE OG, then GNUR ESOOL TEG NEHT REDDAL ENIMAXE, and finally (GNUR) NIP TRESNI EGDIRBWARD TA.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"22","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Bob Chappell","Score":"","ScoreSuffix":""}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":null,"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]