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Castle Frankenstein, The Quest for the Holy Grail and The Kingdom of Klein are three text adventures from Epic Software for the BBC micro.

The games all follow the same format. They start with Epic's “logo" - a catchy tune played to some clever graphics of the word "EPIC" shifting around the screen. This I found to be the most interesting and enjoyable feature of each cassette.

The instructions load after the logo and are well presented and comprehensive. In each case some key commands are left on the screen whilst the main program loads.

All games have a very fast response, with coloured scrolling text. Too many blank lines have been inserted for comfort, for all too soon previous parts of the conversation disappear.

The vocabulary is different from most Adventures, in that to enter a building the command is "go in". It took me quite a while to suss this one, which is quite extraordinary really, for it makes perfect sense. It's just that I have never come across the use of it in an Adventure before!

What detracts from the games is the lack of any "obvious exit” routes - the North, South, East and West type. Without these, one tends to blunder wildly along paths and round courtyards, bumping into all manner of obstacles in one's way. For example, a road is likely to change direction suddenly without any warning, when the player will come to a "you can't go there" obstruction and has to type away until a route is found.

What of each game? Probably Kingdom of Klein is the best of the bunch, although that isn't really saying too much. A palace courtyard seems illogical if you are trying to map it - although it seems all right as you play. From east end, type S and you get to the south end, type W and you get to the west end, or N and you get to the north-end.

In Klein, you must get the magic Klein bottle by defying the witch's curse, solve some mysteries and return the bottle. There seemed to be a minimum number of problems and a lot of bumping into things during the journey to the mountain. Not a mind-bender by any means and, I decided, it held no real interest for me, lacking in any charm or humour as compensation.

Castle Frankenstein starts off at an inn - yet another where I was unable to get a pint! The monster Frankenstein is thought to be on the loose again, committing murders, and you must find and kill him. "Explore the graveyard and Castle ruins, with its secret passages, sulphur pits etc." says the instruction. Reads like a tourist guide, doesn't it? Trouble was, have paraffin lamp - no paraffin.

This is a particularly infuriating game, as I can only assume the lamp was empty.

Quest for the Holy Grail follows the same tiresome format - find the Holy Grail and return it to Camelot. I won't bore you with the details. All in all, this trio did not inspire me one bit - I found the lot irrepressibly dull and awful.