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When this game first came out on the Spectrum, I was amazed at how good it was. An original twist on the old Gauntlet-idea of battling against all odds with a dungeon full nasties.

When this game then came out on the C64 I was horrified. Bad graphics, bad animation, sluggish and the object collisions left a lot to be desired too. Oh well, thought I. Yet another game that didn't convert well.

Now comes Ranarama on the Amstrad. "Look at it carefully," said the Ed. "Remember what a lemon the Commodore 64 version was." As if I don't look at everything carefully...!

Well, I must admit, I was a bit worried in case one of my favourite games hadn't converted across to one of my favourite computers properly. Well, I shouldn't have been so worried. Amstrad Ranarama is excellent, so excellent in fact that it is better than the original.

To recap: Ranarama is based around the 'plan view' type dungeon game that has sprung up in the wake of Gauntlet. Ranarama is more complex and better than anything else that has happened in Gauntlet's wake.

The game involves magic, glyphs and runes. As you move around the dungeon, you will find floor glyphs; these act like icons and perform a function when you activate them. Runes are collected when you have entered into ritual combat with the wizards that are also lying about. When you have beaten them, the runes fly off and you have to collect them. These runes may then be exchanged for spells - offensive, defensive, special effect and power.

The spells have various levels - the higher the better. The dungeon itself is massive and multi-levelled. Each level is connected up by transportation glyphs. Another feature of the game is that you cannot see what is in a room until you have actually examined that room - no more seeing through walls!

The Amstrad implementation is excellent. The graphics are sharp and distinct, and the animation smooth and faultless. The game uses the Amstrad's four-colour medium resolution mode and is perfect - good resolution and enough colour to make it interesting. One interesting point here, the nasties consist of more than one colour; this makes them look a lot more real than is usual on Amstrad games of this type.

Well done, Hewson!