At last, a third way of conversing with the C64: a language with (nearby) machine code speed and legibility of a high-level language. One minute Forth will delight with its flexibility and speed, the next you will be screaming as it crashes on you.

For comparison, I will use another version, £10 more expensive. Romik's is on cassette which presents the problem of loading time. It appears to be a pretty standard Fig version. Unlike the opposition (which uses RAM storage), Romik uses normal Forth storage.

I had one or two problems loading the demo, but overall the program performed acceptably. Tests showed it to be a little sluggish, but still pretty nippy.

My big moan: documentation. A nice 61-page bookley described the words, but no allowance was made for beginners. And there was no effort to show which RAM was available for users, e.g. hi-res graphics. The memory map was hardly comprehensive. Please, Romik, more specific info for the C64.

Overall, reasonable value and recommended for those disenchanted with Basic. P.S. When can we expect a decent C64 Logo?

A.W.