C&VG


Temple Of Apshai

Author: Paul Coppins
Publisher: Epyx
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #46

Temple Of Apshai

No doubt any Atari adventurer of long standing will have heard of, if not played the Temple Of Apshai. Now CBS Software, with the aid of Epyx, have made this available on a Commodore disc.

To give this new version a good try, I blew the dust off my old Atari copy and loaded both to see how they compared. Before I give my verdict, I'd better tell those adventurers unfamiliar with the game just what things are afoot.

The Temple Of Apshai is based on a dungeon with four levels. Each must be entered to recover the eighty different treasures that are to be found. Each of the levels is packed full of hidden traps, secret passages and rooms. Some are hidden by concealed doors, whilst others are more open - or are they?

The Temple Of Apshai

The two different versions are very similar and the dungeons seemed in all respects to be the same down to the position of the traps and secret doors. The new Commodore version does have much better colour graphics and sound effects, although this seems to have been at the expense of keyboard response.

For that reason, in my eagerness to play, I found the Atari version more exciting, whilst the number of arrows I wasted on thin air with the Commodore got a bit maddening at times. This was mainly due to the fact that I killed a monster but the computer was still carrying on combat commands from one move back.

If you have not played a version of the game before, then you might not even notice this effect. Overall, a good Adventure, worthy of its translation.

Paul Coppins

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