The crystal maze

A French software company called Ubi-soft produces many excellent games for the 16-bit micros. One such is Twinworld, and now it's been converted to the Archimedes by Cygnus Software Engineering and it really is a superb arcade adventure.

The scenario involves you, the last of a magic line, trying to recover the 22 pieces of a magical amulet so you can restore peace to your land, currently under the domination of an evil magician. You must explore 22 levels - part above ground and part below - recovering the pieces one at a time.

The controls are simple: Left, right, jump, enter/crouch/stamp foot and throw magic energy ball. You need to be careful, for once your little character is moving he has momentum and won't stop dead in his tracks - in fact, if he's running left and you switch instantly to going right he skids to a halt before turning.

As you travel through the two worlds, you pick up keys to let you through some of the doors and openings. Potions re-stock the three types of magic missile you possess and numerous treasures add to your score.

Every time you kill a creature it leaves behind something which may aid you. Usually it's just more points, but occasionally you get extra jump power, another life, extra time to complete the level and other things I haven't come across yet.

One important item is the magic flute, with which you can summon the merchant and use some of your points to buy items that you've already had - but you can't use this to discover what things might be available in future. The background graphics are beautifully detailed and scroll smoothly, music plays continuously and is excellent, as are all the sound effects, which can be independently turned down or switched off completely.

All the creatures you meet are brilliant animated and, in my opinion, this game is flawless in design and execution.

Lazarus