Commodore User


Ghost Town

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Ken McMahon
Publisher: Kingsoft
Machine: Commodore 16

 
Published in Commodore User #32

Ghost Town

What's the connection between this game and the last single by The Specials? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there isn't one. The Specials record featured better sound and sold in far greater numbers than this game ever will. It was also cheaper. Does the game have any good points? Surprisingly, yes.

The blurb, in the usual fashion, tells you that long ago, Belegro the Wizard cast a spell that turned a prosperous little town into a ghost town. Before leaving to take up his new job with the British Government, he took everything of value and stored it in one room.

You must work your way through the game's nineteen rooms to find Belegro and the treasure. Now n-n-n-nineteen roams isn't the kind of number that makes you break out into a sweat at the prospect of cracking it. When combined with the general lack of complexity you'd expect that to be a serious drawback, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Ghost Town

Your computer counterpart is a sprite man whose limbs and features remain totally static, even when he's moving. Each screen is a simple maze made up of bricks with the odd bush dotted here and there. Clues must be solved and objects collected from each screen in order to progress.

For example, in the first screen there is a flower on a bush which must be picked. Before you can do this you must have a pair of secateurs. The secateurs are hanging from another bush though, and unless you use a ladder to reach them you'll be prickled to death in the attempt [Point taken - Ed]. The ladder is in a locked shed and the key is hidden on another screen.

If it all sounds dreadfully complicated the only reassurance I can offer is that it isn't. The above takes about five minutes to work out and the same goes for the other problems in the game.

Ghost Town

Some rely on sheer good luck, like the room with four doors at the end, three of which lead to a snake pit. Once you've worked this out, you don't make the same mistake again.

There are one or two screens they rely on quick reflexes rather than mental agility. A pulsating laser beam to dodge past and even the spider from Tom Thumb puts in a guest appearance.

Looking at the hard evidence, Ghost Town doesn't have a lot going for it. The graphics and plot are simple, inane even, but for some strange reason I found playing it quite enjoyable [But you're weird! - Ed]. For experienced gamers the fun is bound to be short lived, I completed over a dozen screens inside a couple of hours.

Ken McMahon

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Ghost Town (Kingsoft)
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