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Boris runs rings around the opposition in Starbyte's fantasy-based strategy game

Deposed from his throne, Cirion seeks revenge on Medusa, the demon queen. She has killed his friends and forced him into exile. Cirion must rebuild his kingdom to its former glory - tough, as he has about as much power as Neil Kinnock. On top of that, he must find five magic rings to summon Medusa for a final showdown.

Rings Of Medusa is primarily a strategy game with trading elements. Initially, you must develop trade routes to fill your coffers with gold which can then be spent on troops to begin conquest, or alternatively on scouts to find mines for more money. Trading involves the purchase and selling of different goods from town to town, using either ships or wagons as transportation. Unfortunately, without protection, any trading mission can turn to failure if the wagon train is attacked by an enemy army.

Since many cities are controlled by Medusa, it is important for you to amass a large store of wealth in order to create a working plan of conquest, as armies can be expensive to equip, train and maintain. At the same time you must be continuously searching for the five rings, whose coordinates can be found in various cities and ports.

Most of the game is spent either on the strategic map or the town menu. Upon the strategic map you can explore the many screens of the world of Medusa. As time quickly passes you can move from town to town, attack castles or towns, search for mines or treasure, or use ships to sail to ports or islands.

In town you can enter a variety of shops and other buildings. Markets allow the purchase of goods for trade, banks offer loans and interest rates, temples occasionally give clues, and so on. Of special importnce within cities is the park area, which allows the recruitment of troops for upcoming conquest of towns and castles.

Combat is very straightforward. You simply command certain troops to advance to battle at the right times and, possibly withdrawing when too many casualties have been taken. The game includes a Negotiate option which supposedly allows combat to be avoided through bribery or threats. However, it never really worked during the review time I gave the game.

Rings Of Medusa has a pleasant appearance with the attractive topographical map allowing easy recognition of the various towns, hills and other landmarks. The town menu is similarly sharp, with various shops easily identifiable.

The interface has been improved from the original 16-bit version, which is good to see. As has the passage of time which used to be too fast: it used to be that several days could pass before you had reached for the keyboard. Since armies must be paid every month, this was rather annoying. The C64 version, however, is far more accomplished in that time is based on actual distance travelled, rather than real-time.

The use of mines as a potential source of income is another good idea. This feature allows you, even if you have amassed a considerable amount of income, to further increase your profit, while saving yourself the tedious task of trade.

Trading is difficult because you can be attacked virtually at any time without warning, losing all of your goods. The manual states that this can be avoided by purchasing scouts to point ont enemy units at a distance but this is impractical. You initially lack the cash to purchase scouts to explore an area wide enough to provide adequate warning. Even if a scout spots an enemy force you can not necessarily avoid it.

Probably the game's greatest weakness is its lack of realism. It appears to have received little playtesting, as glaring oversights in credibility are strikingly apparent. For example, every type of cargo takes up the same amount of space in wagons and ships. Thus, a single piece of parchment occupies as much spaceas a huge mining machine!

Also you will quickly note that you are the only force active in the entire economy. As the years pass, goods will continue to be produced and soldiers continually multiplied. In a few dozen years, the amount of soldiers in the Park awaiting recruitment can double or triple the population of the entire town. At the same time, towns which previously boasted 50 or 60 horses will have amassed 300 or 400 or more.

Finally, combat is rather too simplistic to be taken seriously, and there is no time limit built into the game, so you can continue to play for hundreds of years without penalty.

While Rings Of Medusa has a promising subject matter - you don't get too many fantasy-based strategy games - and decent graphics, the general design of the game is rather beset with problems of realism and one or two design faults.

If your taste in strategy games can cope with this lack of realism and can overlook the design glitches then you will find some enjoyment if you manage to persevere with the game. However, on the whole, Rings Of Medusa would benefit from a redesign, or an upgraded version at the very least.

One good point towards the game is the variety of unit types and races that make up an army. The different factors to consider give a sense of depth to the process of recruitment which isn't often found in strategy games.

This is heightened by the fact that different races come in varying abundance in the towns. For example, humans are very abundant but not particularly specialised in anything.

On the other hand, halflings, gnomes and zwarks make good artillery and wizards, but are in short supply. Thus it is necessary, under certain conditions to use an inferior, but more numerous, race for a particular unit type.

The amount of thought that went into this area of the game is to be commended.

Presentation 80%
Good menu system and colourful town, icon section.

Graphics 76%
Strategic view is very Ultima-esque. Town views and menus are colourful but functional.

Hookability 70%
Takes a while to get into the rhythm due to prolonged trading. Poor realism, but once you have a wad of cash things pick up.

Lastability 71%
Lots of variety regarding trading and collating an army although design and realism glitches spoil things somewhat.

Overall 72%
Lots to do, good value for money but frustrating and disappointing in several key areas.