Previous Next

The Kingdom has been cast under a spell of eternal darkness by the wicked Ice Queen. To break her evil spell you must find all seven pieces of the crown she stole from your father, the King, when she killed him.

Events take place in real time over two separate screens. The action screen consists of a honeycomb of hexagonal rooms through which you must move in order to discover clues which will lead you to a piece of the crown.

Your progress is hindered by the Ice Queen's servants, dispatched with maddening regularity in the form of dragons, bats, knives and globules of protoplasm. These can be killed with a bolt from the firestick - your only weapon, but each time you allow yourself to be touched by a servant you will be turned slightly more evil. Your level of goodness can be restored by killing all the servants and entering the spinning cylinder which then appears in one of the rooms. Occasionally the ghost of the old King floats across the screen and a touch from him won't do you any harm.

Once in a sword room you can discover what's there by switching to the adventure screen. Here you are presented with an inventory of items collected, a scrolling options menu, and a 'status line' which gives responses to your actions in Olde English. A burning candle shows the amount of time remaining and a bar chart indicates your level of good/evil. The game should therefore appeal to everyone, from adventure notice to arcade ace.

For my money, Ice Palace is the best game currently available for the C64. The idea is excellent and the sound and graphics are nothing short of superb. If this doesn't inspire you I recommend you chuck your C64 in the bin and take up some other pastime.