Acorn User
1st January 1988
Oxbridge is the latest offering from the very successful Tynesoft software house. It's different from most of their recent titles, being a fully-illustrated adventure. The BBC Micro and Electron are both catered for on the two sides of the same tape, the BBC version having some 300 illustrated locations, and the Electron 200.
The adventure is set in the fictitious university town of Oxbridge on the college campus, which appears to be populated by talkative students and lecturers.
Input is fairly basic. The program accepts up to four words, though the first word must be a verb. Directions can be typed or indicated with the cursor keys, and the addition of an on-screen rosette showing obvious exits is a nice touch. The graphics, while not outstanding, are quite acceptable, and along with the sound effects add considerably to the atmosphere of playing the game.
The problems vary greatly in their difficulty, and the hints printed on the reverse of the cassette inlay helped to reduce the urge to pull out what little hair I have left. I found it easy to wander around at the start without getting killed, which was a nice change from some of the adventures I have tried recently, which tend to be too hard, discouraging beginners.
This is a welcome addition to my adventure library, while not in the same league as Robico or Level 9 it has certainly kept me busy and amused for a while. I would recommend it to any adventurer, and in particular to less experienced players.
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