Previous Next

The land of Fairlight was once a wonderful place but now quite literally the magic has gone. Many told stories of a slow process of decay spanning many years that had caused this unhappy state and some even believed that the answer lies in Castle Avars.

This frightful place is roamed by all manner of evil but, in it somewhere, is the book of light. This book marks the end of the quest for our hero, the young but brave Isvar.

As your quest unfolds, you will explore the stunning 3D rooms that form the castle. Each one is viewed from above in a style reminiscent of the excellent Knight Lore but since everything is in a smaller scale, more is fitted in each room. Hence the rooms range from ones filled with bunk beds and tables to passages leading to stairways down each packed with nasties and objects. The nasties are divided into patrolling guards and creatures such as trolls who just want to eat you.

Colour smudging caused by the Spectrum's attribute problem is avoided by using black outline objects on a single colour background with changes from room to room to help you in your mapping which will be essential in solving the game.

The controls are a little difficult to get used to since there are so many of them including movement in four diagonal directions, jumping and fighting (with your sword) and numerous commands to pick-up, drop and use the various objects you will find in the castle.

These objects are vital to the game since they each have a distinct size and weight (which restricts the number you can carry at any one time) and most have a specific use. The most important ones are magical.

The result of all this is a true 3D arcade adventure in which you can actually use the objects you find rather than merely collecting them. Round the whole package off with full instruction booklet and an actual tune from the Spectrum before the game starts! The result is that Utimate has finally met its match.