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A strange book. A series of unsettling, isolated islands. On each, the structures and edifices of cultures quite unlike our own. Mysteries within mysteries, leading to other puzzles, all united in one vast mystery of Who? Where? When? Why? How are these all connected? They are the basis of Myst.

You find yourself within these worlds, with nothing to help you but your wits and clues, left by persons unnamed. Bizarre devices (magical, mechanical?) operate at the flick of a switch. Sometimes. But progress seems only to lead to more questions, and a looming sense of threat. And all from two strange books...

Myst was originally a Mac CD-ROM project, but countless other CD versions are planned.

Unravel the mystery of the islands using intellect and intuition.

Myst is an entirely puzzle-driven game. There are no guns, no 'baddies', no deaths and no credits. Success is measured in progress. Progress is made when you reach an unattainable place or discover the purpose for one of the many machines you reach. Although the puzzles are complex, the control is a simple point and click interface. The graphics don't scroll, but are made up by a series of locations the screen flicks to.

Myst has been converted from the original Mac game which took the Cyan team four years to design, render and assemble. A multi-media demo of 'The Making of Myst' is hidden on the CD.

The first island is a pivotal point of the adventure. At its heart is a library. Many of the books are charred, but the remaining journals offer invaluable assistance. Next to the library is a personal planetarium, which displays constellations for pre-programmed dates.

Myst is a peculiar game on any format, but even weirder to play on a console. After the pace of Daytona and Virtua Fighter, it may seem horribly sedate to wander through the beautifully crafted worlds of Myst, but as an adventure game there's little to touch its atmosphere and construction.

There is huge attention to detail, from the wonderfully written diaries in the library, to the eerie instruments of torture in the bowels of mechanical world. There is very little given in terms of explanation, so playing the game is bewildering, and a little menacing. The many puzzles interlink, and are much more sophisticated than 'take object A to site B'.

This is a niche game with limited appeal, but its pretty outstanding nonetheless.

When Myst first appeared on the Mac, and later the PC, it heralded the beginning of something special. No-one had seen anything like it before, and it launched a wave of similiarly sumptuous adventures like The 11th Hour and the Alone In The Dark series.

As a result of all these similar games, Myst started looking a little dated. While there's still nothing to fault it in the graphics department, my original concerns about the rather static gameplay persist with the Saturn version.

Yes, it's very atmospheric - but is that enough? Not any more, I'm afraid. My guess is that we'll see a similar pattern emerge with Saturn software that we saw with other systems and that Myst will just be the beginning. In other words, the best is hopefully yet to come.

Graphics 91%
P. Fantastic still rendered landscapes. It's a work of real creative imagination.

Animation 10%
N. The game is basically a series of stills, with only a few areas of animation.

Music 75%
P. Short excerpts of spooky music accompany certain areas.
N. Most of the game is played in silence.

Effects 84%
P. The convincing FX suit the areas. Some puzzles use sound for their solutions.

Playability 83%
P. Adventure fans will perceive the quality and ingenuity of the game.
N. No action, and no real baddie.

Lastability 80%
P. Finishing the game requires lateral thinking, and while you play you are totally absorbed.
N. It's a story, to be followed only once.

Overall 82%
The most original adventure idea for years; elaborate and lovingly crafted. Explore its delights.