This is the latest game by Walter Pooley, famed for such adventures as Castle Adventure, Mission X, Pyramid, Desert Island and Mansion Quest. True to his usual style, The Lost World is a text only adventure based on the well-known Conan-Doyle book.

Like Sir Arthur's story, the game is set on a mysterious plateau filled with strange prehistoric creatures and people. Truly a land that time forgot. You play Edward Malone, a reporter for the Daily Gazette. Your task is to find your good friend Maple White who (according to his despatches) discovered a strange world that time passed by.

Beginning at your campsite at the base of the plateau cliffs, careful examination and exploration of the initial locations reveal your friend met a horrific and untimely end. Determined to discover how he died, you set out to find a way onto the plateau. This can be a bit tricky, but with a little thought and very careful examination of your surroundings you should soon manage it. Once there, the fun really begins!

The location descriptions are atmopsheric and really set the scene for the action that follows. If they're not enough to keep you on your toes, the savage apemen who are intent on throwing you off the plateau (head first) certainly will! Hungry pterodactyls, huge prehistoric creatures and a devilish Tyrannosaurus Rex appear too, all set in a steamy, tropical, dripping, vast jungle. Luckily there's a few friendlier, more helpful characters around (well, they are if you treat them well).

Despite the sense of seriousness and tension generated by the game, there's a few humorous touches too - search a leaf-strewn hut and you get the response "You discover something - leaves, leaves and yet more leaves!" At one point I was forced to leave what could well prove to be an extremely useful object behind, and then wasted a considerable amount of time trying to get it back - drat those pesky apemen!

Clever programming adds to the tension of the adventure, with short pauses between certain messages as you attempt a particularly difficult action or discover something significant, e.g. there's a horrifically hairy moment when you're attacked and have only a few moves to escape before meeting your doom.

As usual, it's vital to search and examine everything. As you make progress, it's easy to miss vital objects, without which you become completely stuck in a nasty situation later on. Thankfully, Walter has included a Ramsave facility, so take my advice and *use it often*!

The adventure is quite tricky at times, though the solution to the many problems are always logical - you'll kick yourself for not thinking of them earlier! The parser's a little difficult at times but it won't spoil your enjoyment of the adventure. If you think carefully about what action you want to perform and choose your wording carefully, you'll get along fine.

All in all, this is one of the most enjoyable adventures I've seen recently, and it should appeal to novices and experts alike. It's not overly large, but it's got enough to keep you scratching your head for hours.

Note: Walter's also selling his compilation of five older games for the bargain price of £10 (single adventures cost £2.50 each).