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Adventure games have been around for a very long time, they owe their existence to role-playing board games. Classic Adventure from Abersoft is based on the very first adventure game written in America by a couple of university students called Crowther and Woods.

The original written in the language FORTRAN ran on a mainframe computer. It was so popular that it has been copied the world over and most self-respecting computers have some form of this game. The Amstrad is pretty lucky because there are two. The Amsoft version, called Classic Adventure and the Level 9 version called Colossal Adventure.

Most adventure players have cut their teeth on a version of the original game, so if you get stuck it is usually possible to find someone to drop a hint, The Amsoft game adheres closely to the shape and descriptions of the other versions. There are no really nasty puzzles. In Classic Adventure you start from a well house near a small stream. Around you there are various objects, in this game every object has a use so it is worthwhile picking up all the objects you can carry.

You are told that there is a cave nearby, reputed to be dangerous but full of wonderful treasures. The initial task is to find this cave and then plunder it. Hazards inside include an ogre, a snake, a particularly puny dragon and hordes of nasty dwarves. The treasures include gold, jewels, an emerald egg and a platinum pyramid. To get all the treasures you need a devious mind and to use the odd bit of magic.

Classic Adventure is getting a bit dated now, you are limited to two word entry, there are no graphics or intelligent opponents. However it is a part of computer folklore, without having played Classic Adventure you will miss out on knowing the meaning of XYZZY, Plugh and Y2.

This is one game to include in the collection, it is great fun to play in a crowd and allows you to escape from the real world of bugs, syntax errors and school.