Sinclair User


Tinderbox

Author: Chris Bourne
Publisher: Gremlin
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Sinclair User #43

Tinderbox

Gremlin Graphics is not a company noted for its adventures.

Tinderbox is a fairy tale, in which you play the part of Tom, a common foot-soldier, who has to defeat the wicked witch and evil king to gain the hand of the fair Rowella.

As an adventure, it's a disgrace. It is written entirely in Basic, and contains large numbers of boring locations where little or nothing happens.

Tinderbox

The computer docs not understand even a simple, standard adventure command such as Look. As Tom happily wades through a lake without so much as getting his feet wet, he may well ponder his bad luck in not signing up as a mercenary with Pete Austin or Brian Howarth.

The B side of the cassette contains a long fairy story printed up screen by screen. It is the story of Tom, the common foot, and you've guessed the rest already.

All profits go to the Soft-Aid appeal for Ethiopia. It's very fine of Gremlin Graphics to do that, but they might have chosen a halfway decent program to flog for charity. If you care about Ethiopia - and you should - then send a fiver to Bob Geldof. There's no point bothering with Tinderbox - it lights nobody's fire.

Chris Bourne

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