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As the local blacksmith you are the nearest thing the members of the village could find to a hero! You are therefore elected to travel to the neighbourhood wizard's castle and retrieve a crown. It is thus that you find yourself outside the said castle with a woodsman's axe and very little idea what to do.

As the castle is surrounded by a wood and bearing in mind you have that axe you may think it a pretty shrewd move to enter the forest - this would be a mistake unless you happen to be a lover of mazes. Once free again you will probably gain access to the castle by waiting for the next cart, ending up in the courtyard; this is where the fun begins. One step to the north and you end up .... in another maze!

Just as you begin to think Ashkeron is one big maze you stumble into the picture gallery and will soon be informed that you aren't an art critic but it's an improvement on the maze. After this the game opens up and you can explore the banquet hall and meet the butler, visit the kitchen and get thrown out of the pantry by the cook and talk food with the maid.

At this stage you will have probably encountered the wizard himself who will cast a spell that reverses all actions, so type N and you'll go south. Also prone to pop up is the black witch: you can only get rid of her by bribing her. If you are really lucky you get to meet the slimy green dwarf who invariably assaults you with his sword - ho ho you think, kill him and take his sword. Well, killing him isn't hard (chop chop) but as he dies the sword crumbles to dust! There is a sword that you can get, though, but it's broken unfortunately so you need to find a blacksmith to mend it (another one?). One is duly found and does indeed mend the sword but the forge is in the cellar and the easiest way there is to go to the bedrooms and get thrown into the cells by the sentinels .... but I'm telling you the plot!

Ashkeron features that system called "walk thru" graphics. If you go east the picture that occupies the top of the screen scrolls to the left and vice versa; going north or south causes the screen to split in the middle and scroll out.

The pictures aren't as good as Level Nine ones but they are still very effective and what's more important, the space they occupy doesn't detract from the complexity of the adventure. As an adventure purist I think that the pictures don't add anything to the game either but if they were omitted I'm sure some bright spark would moan that the graphics and sound were underused! So to sum up, Ashkeron is something for everyone: a complex, challenging and witty game for the adventurer and it's got pretty pies for the zap'em crowd. An excellent game - buy it!

J.G.D.