It's hard being a gargoyle

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In Nightworld, a new release from Alligata, you must explore the many vaults of a cavernous underworld.

The vault that you're in fills the screen and consists of many platforms, flying harpies, stinging nasties to be avoided and, of course, various exits. The aim of the game is to jump about the vaults, collecting the objects that will lead to the final escape route and the magical golden fleece.

You start off with a certain amount of energy that is sapped if you fall or encounter a nasty. If you run out of energy you're dead.

The instructions say that there is a way to replenish your energy, but they don't tell you how.

Day and night are signified by a globe slowly moving across the screen.

As the sun sets, you change into a mutated gargoyle which can jump much further. As day dawns you are returned to your former self.

The quality of the graphics is high, with excellent title pages and various shades of colour to produce the vault pictures.

The movement and detail of the characters is good. The flapping and gyrating gargoyle is an excellent example of the art of animation.

The sound is also well implemented with plenty of tunes, blips and squeaks.

The major fault with this game, however, is that it is infuriatingly difficult to play.

I found myself stuck for ages on one screen, seemingly unable to climb up the platform.

The instructions were also poor, with spelling mistakes, incorrect playing keys and claims of joystick compatibility. In the end, the actual keys were quite sensible, though there was no joystick option.

In my opinion, this game suffers from being so hard to play that it ceased to be enjoyable.

Phil Tudor