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Demon From The Darkside is perhaps the best known of Jonathan Lemmon's offerings from Compass Software. It was followed by The Golden Mask, and now The Devil's Hand completes the trilogy.

You play the part of Morrach, tracking down Drakon to destroy his soul before he can destroy the great Wizard Zorron.

By a seal wall, beyond which you can see a small island, a Troll has scented you, and is heading your way. Flight is called for, but very soon the Troll catches up with you, and before you know it you are hurtling through the air! Making the most of the distance that now separates you, you find a convenient bolt hole, and meet up with Gruff, a friendly dwarf and sworn enemy of the dreaded troll. So, accompanied by Gruff, you head to the island in pursuance of your quest.

There are about thirty graphics, each occupying a narrow strip at the top of the screen, allowing plenty of room for the text underneath, without too much use of 'any key to continue'. The pictures are detailed and colourful, and the look of the screen is enhanced by careful use of colour in the text, together with ornamental icons to show exits and to illustrate objects in the inventory list. A further nice touch is the use of a miniature from the title screen, a hand casting a red shadow of a devil, as a preface to descriptions.

The text is immaculately written, and makes the fantasy of interacting with flowers, orcs and trolls, a magically believable experience.

Home grown and Quilled this adventure might be, but it plays a lot better than many tape adventures in a higher price range.

Compass Software, despite offering its adventures by mail order only, has always produced games of a quality equal to the best commercial products. Jonathan Lemmon has come up with another very playable and beautifully presented adventure in The Devil's Hand. There are not many new cassette adventures around these days - so if you own a Spectrum send off for this one, you will not be disappointed! At £2.50 it's a snip!