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It's been a long wait for The Eidolon - you may remember a preview way back in the April issue. I'm perplexed why it took so long to finish. Waiting for the Christmas market perhaps? Despite the wait, it's an excellent game that should prove popular because of the delightful graphics and originality it offers.

The "Eidolon" itself is a machine produced by a fictitious Victorian inventor: H.G. Wells and The Time Machine - that sort of thing. You control it around a cave system created by fractal mathematics, trying to get past the guardians of the game's seven levels, not to mention the other monsters you meet.

You look out from the front of the Eidolon: a view of the caves and your instrument panel. Arched tunnels in each cave system form mazes of ever-growing complication as you progress through the levels. You can move the Eidolon forward, turn it and reverse. The only problem will be catching the cave wall when trying to round corners.

The caves are created using fractals: as you approach a feature you see it in more detail, and the detail is related to the overall shape of the feature. Thus you have lines on the cave walls that continuously change their appearance as you move towards them. This creates a good movement effect.

You'll find two types of things in the caves: monsters and fireballs. Monsters come in many varieties and there are four types of fireball. On each level there are three monsters, and a dragon that guards the entrance to the next level. The dragon has a barrier in front of it, which has to be deactivated by a jewel - and the jewel is obtained by killing one of the other three monsters.

Each monster guards a jewel of different colour. They are killed by shooting fireballs at them, but you'll have to use the right one of your four types. Red fireballs are simple and destructive. Gold ones replenish your energy when picked up. Blue ones give you more time to complete the level when collected and freeze a monster for a time when fired. Green ones transform a monster into another type, but you don't know whether it will be more or less dangerous. Fireballs can be found just floating around for you to collect, but you'd better watch out for the red ones or they'll do you some damage.

The monsters have different strengths. The weakest, a rotofly, can be destroyed with one shot. Their behaviour patterns are different as well. Puffer birds can spit fire-balls back at you. There are also winged Biter birds, one-eyed Bottlenecks and Greps. But by far the most awesome arc the dragons; when you encounter a dragon you will always have a tough fight.

Each level loads separately from cassette but it doesn't take long. The graphics arc excellent, the fractals giving a good impression of movement and the monsters and fireballs providing the colour and action. The monsters are very nicely animated: waving necks, flapping wings, chomping jaws and all sorts of other mannerisms. The ever-growing complexity of the caves and the increasingly menacing monsters will keep the challenge going through the levels in what is a very impressive piece of programming.

Here is a game with very clever, even technically brilliant, programming techniques that give the impression of being stuck inside a complex underground cavern system. The graphics are reasonable with ample sound effects. But, for some reason, The Eidolon didn't really appeal to me - it should have, but it left me cold. I suppose I could give it one more go...

3,000 points.

Very... umm... green!

P. Good use of fractals in caves.
P. Wonderfully animated monsters.
P. Very original game concept.
P. Complicated mazes to explore and map.
P. Seven levels that get tough.

N. Basically just a game of search and kill.