Previous Next

Deep in the heart of India lies the remote village of Mayapore, which was, for years, proteted by the Sankara Stone. Then the stone was stolen. Devastation followed, and the village's children disappeared. Indy discovers them enslaved in the Pankot Palace, where they are being forced to dig in the Thuggee mines for precious stones.

As Indiana Jones, you must free the children and recover the Sankara Stone, before escaping across a precarious rope-bridge to freedom.

The game is split into three main levels with a 'bonus round' awarded if you are successful. Most of the action takes place beneath the Palace, in the Thuggee mines.

In level one, you must negotiate the various levels and caverns of the mine, fending off killer bats, snakes and Thuggees with your whip, which also comes in handy for swinging across from one ledge to the next.

Different sections of the mine are joined by ladders which you can climb up or slide down. But you must be careful not to step too close to the edge of a ledge because you may lose your footing and fall.

Spread throughout the mine are caves, with bars across their entrances. Through the bars can be seen the village's children. To free the children, all you have to do is find each of the caves and crack your whip on the bars.

The graphic design of the mine is acceptable, but the bats, snakes and skulls could easily come from an 8-bit game, while the sound effects and music are primitive to say the least. What's more disturbing, though, is the lack of playability or attention to detail in this level; and throughout the rest of the game.

Such things as Indy walking above the ground, or in the rock wall, should have been seen during testing and removed. The way, the bats fly towards you often makes them impossible to avoid, likewise the Thuggees, especially when there are more than two chasing you at once. The animation of the Thuggees is poor considering the machine's graphic potential.

Having rescued all the children, Indy arrives at a tunnel entrance which is the start of level two. Here you must guide our hero, now in a mine car, down the tunnel on a series of tracks - Indiana Jones fans will remember this brilliant sequence from the film.

Apart from the hassle of the Thuggee guards, who still have given up chasing you, Indy must also contend with giant bats, chasms, missing track sections and a giant Thuggee. By leaning one way or the other in the car, Indy can steer it past missing rails, and may still find time to whip the odd guard.

Here again the game lacks that professional feel, happily much in evidence in Road Runner, U.S. Gold's last arcade conversion. As with level one, you could be forgiven for believing you were playing a Commodore 64 game, rather than an ST one.

Shame, as the Spectrum and Amstrad versions were pretty good-looking!

At the end of the tunnel lies The Temple Of Doom, and level three. Here Indy must find the lost Sankara stone, which has been hidden in front of Kali, the four armed goddess of death. Having retrieved the stone, it's back to the mine caverns and a repeat of level one.

Indy must recover three stones before escaping across the treacherous rope bridge.

Although this is a conversion from an arcade game, Paragon Software has done little more than produce an acceptable rather than a desirable piece of software.

When ST owners are asked to part with 20 hard-earned pounds, they deserve something a little special. This one is decidedly ordinary, give it a miss unless you are an Indiana Jones fan.