Previous Next

Someone must have cast a spell on Alligata - this game is a mere ghost of some of the excellent offerings they have produced for the BBC.

A shame that, because it's a nice idea: a man in a haunted house with you taking the part of the ghoul who chases him around. Trouble is, this particular haunted house seems to have only two rooms.

In room one you wait for the man to appear from one of eight doors and try to catch him before he grabs they key in the middle of the screen. If you succeed, you get points and he then appears from another door. If you fail, he disappears rapidly into room two, which the instructions call the cellar.

Here your task is simply to guide the ghost around a simple spiral maze avoiding two wriggling snakes. If you succeed, it's back to room one and start again.

I'm afraid that's almost all there is to it. No jumping or shooting. No elaborate strategy or tactics. Just the simple matter of ghost-guiding.

Admittedly once you've captured more than twenty men, bats start to appear, making life more difficult; and capturing another twenty takes you on to further levels of difficulty.

But difficulty doesn't equal interest. And although the action in room one did offer moments of enjoyment, there are plenty of more interesting games.