A&B Computing


Repton Thru Time
By Superior/Acornsoft
BBC/Electron

 
Published in A&B Computing 5.09

After more than 100,000 previous Repton games have been snapped up by eager games players, here's more of the same. Claims from Superior of the hardest puzzles yet in the series can be judged by you, but a dazzling finale is offered if you complete these forty screens. And, if you find the "almost impossible to complete" screens too much, then I guess you can always seek solace in your authorised Repton Cuddly Toy - prime candidate for this year's Tacky Tie-in Award.

Don't get me wrong - I love that mischievous lizard as much as the next games player, but after Repton mugs, badges and pens do we really need a cuddly toy? Interesting too is the downgrading of the ubiquitous Superior competition - gone are the days of expensive prizes, now we're reduced to a cuddly Egyptian Repton. Yes, well.

The problem with the game is that we've all seen it before - too often. As much as I enjoy the Repton series, it has by now run seriously out of stream and Superior seem to acknowledge as much by their cheaper pricing levels.

More of the same? Yes, another forty screens - this time designed by Impact Games Club's Mark Botterill with coding by Matthew Atkinson. For variety this time, you get to race Repton around screens depicting prehistory, ancient Egypt, Victorian London, today and the far future. As in previous reworkings of Repton 3, each new screen set has new designs for the more familiar boulders, diamonds, monsters and spirits. The theory, though, is the same as ever - clear screens of diamonds, kill monsters, avoid getting trapped. The new screen designs are cunning, devious even, but it will be fanatical lizard fans who persevere, I think.

As for me, I enjoyed them but return more often to the first two releases in the series - a bit more freshness about them, even granted the time since initial release. I also get annoyed at sloppiness - this one still has the option screen from Repton 3 complete with out-of-date copyright notice. Doesn't anyone spot these things? Still, if you want new Repton screens and haven't yet picked up a Repton editor (easy to use and great fun) then the new low price on this could decide you. I just wonder why Superior don't call on all that Repton mania and release screens designed by users, at budget prices. Guess who's not getting a cuddly Egyptian Repton, then?

Dave Reeder

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