Massive Complications

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You know, you can get to hate software hosues. I've never been that great at games; in fact, Elite still reckons that I'm "harmless". But things were improving: I'd just reached screen H on Repton, then those superior people drop this one on me - Repton 2.

The idea is much the same as before, but a million times more complicated - no, make that ten million times more complicated!

The object is to get rid of all the earth, collect all the diamonds, solve all the puzzles and avoid the monsters. So what? Might not sound too difficult - but then I've still to tell you that there are (deep breath) 4084 lumps of earth, 1652 diamonds, 42 puzzles and 18 monsters.

All this is spread over sixteen screens, though you've never quite sure which one you're on. You start off on screen 0 and to get on to the next screen you must transport yourself there by touching a transporter button - a sort of "beam me up Scotty" effect.

The aim of the game is to collect all 42 puzzle pieces and join them together at the bottom of screen 0 to form the final message. You can then take a photograph and enter the Superior Software competition.

I'm told the puzzles are very clever - they must be as I haven't solved one yet! I swear that they're impossible in some cases...

Luckily there's no time limit to the overall game, though some puzzles do invoke one. The graphics and mazes are better than before, and I'm most impressed with the way the sprites and maze scroll so smoothly. As with Repton, I'll stick my neck out and say that Repton 2 is better than anything I've played on the BBC Micro or Electron before. Brilliant!

Bruce Smith