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This is one of those games for budding Einsteins, in that it requires you to think about several possible actions and options for each problem encountered.

The manual supplied with the game is ten pages long and is written in rather small print, the first page is given over to the plot and the rest are descriptions of possible actions. They recommend that you read it carefully before playing and it is a good idea.

It is a very frustrating and challenging game, there are elements of many other programs within it, including a well animated and colourful action area of the screen. The animation is a bit on the slow side though but it's certainly not just a simple arcade game.

The display is broken into sections and the largest, top half of the screen, is the three level action screen; here your character walks, climbs, jumps and shoots at other beings. Mind you, try as we could, we were unable to find the pistol, which was supposed to be on the start screen.

Below this is a set of windows which give the items found and carried, eye display, visual display, energy display, time, tiles, ammunition, function and menu choices. The Menu window is perhaps the second most important in that it allows you to perform many tasks not immediately possible from the action screen, such as Look, Take, Use, Drop, Swap, etc.

There are potions and spells to find and use, time portals to transport you to another era, weapons to discover and their ammunition, chests, keys and eight minds which have to be given their correct item. There is even a variation of the 'Mastermind' type of game thrown in at the end!

A real mindboggler of a game, this one reminds me of Swords And Sorcery, but it is a much more complex and well designed game. Not really suitable for those who want a simple shoot-'em-up, but if you found the Wally games a doddle and have a few millenia to spare, try Timetrax.