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Yes, Maziacs is a maze game as the title suggests, but it is *not* a copy of 'Pac-man' (sigh of relief). dk'Tronics, who have produced other quality products, have done one large step forward from 'Pac-man'.

To start, the maze is bigger. In fact, it has no edges, but hundreds of locations. Only about one-fiftieth of the total maze is normally shown on the screen with a full one-twelfth being displayed by the pressing of the appropriate key. A totally new maze is generated on each go, so maing for a very varied game.

Dotted all over the maze are swords, prisoners and a pile of treasure, all set into the walls until you collect them. Only one sword may be held at a time, and just one Maziac can be killed with it. A Maziac is a horrible monster that has a tendency to attack you. There are an enormous number of Maziacs milling around all over the maze. If you are sitting down, they will attack and kill. If you are wallking, without a sword, then you are more than likely going to be killed. On the other hand, if you are walking, without a sword, the Maziac will die.

One of the nicest little things about Maziacs is the fearful fights which they will put up. The aim of the game is to find the treasure. This is not an easy job when you are in a maze of such size. Fortunately, the prisoners will light the way for a short distance. Once the treasure is found, getting it back is far from easy as a sword may not be carried, so the treasure must be dropped before conflict.

On the right-hand edge of the screen is an energy level indicator which can drop very rapidly at times. If it gets to zero you die. To keep energy up, it is necessary to eat food also found in the walls.

Maziacs is one of the most exciting games I have played for a while. The graphics are very good; they are smooth and fast. With three levels of play, it will be a long time before the game becomes too easy.

A great game and highly recommended.