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Hands on wallets - it's a compilation. From the people who brought you the superb Ishar - cheated in this month's Gamebusters on page 49 - comes Magic Worlds, three RPGs from those lovely, if not wizened old crone and mysterios mumbling-obsessed, French Silmarilis people. All three games have been reviewed in ST Format before and so, if you're the dedicated sort, you probably know instantly what they're all about and how they fared. If not, read on...

There are these two islands, see. One's called Eolia and the other one's called Sharkaania. True to the spirit of this kind of thing, these two islands have been at war for quite a while. You're the leader of Eolia and, by issuing commands to the members of your council, you must attack and completely destroy the other place. To do this, you just click on the desired fella and, as if by magic, his icons appear. But, it isn't all one-sided baddie-bashing. Occasionally the Sharkaanians do something dastardly in return and, because this simply won't do, you have to retaliate.

Before that, you need to design your war machinery and manage your soldier-training and financial affairs efficiently. Then, you can attack by sending over your flying devices and blasting the Sharkaanians into oblivion. Storm Master is a god game - but a slightly tweaked one. It features superb graphics, terrific sampled sound and a dramatic and slightly guffaw-inducing wind-raising ceremony - check it out.

This one has much in common with Ishar. It features an almost exclusively 3D perspective and sees you taking charge of a bunch of dudes wandering around the countryside. The evil Morgorth has returned. These evil ones always return, don't they? But - why this one? Well, the four magic crystals that once held him prisoner have disappeared and now he's getting down to some serious rampaging and generally wreaking havoc over Arborea. So - surprise, surprise - it's you who has to do the right thing and ramble about the land, recovering crystals and restoring law, order and good ol' family values.

At the beginning, you can select a ranger, warrior or magician and determine their qualities, strengths and weaknesses. Of course, you have to pick 'em carefully if you're going to succeed. Gorgeous 3D graphics with incredible detail and a handy overhead view of the whole playing area - just in case you're having trouble finding your bearings. Crystals Of Arborea is Ishar's slightly less polished grand-daddy.

OK, let's get 'em over with... This isn't an insult for the halitosisafflicted. Nor is it the result of a particularly awesome biryani. Right, well - this one's set in the magical kingdom of Anrea. Why do the names of all these magical kingdoms have to begin and end with the letter "A"? Hmmmm.

Three players get to take part - a mixture of humans and STs, or just all of the same. A game turn lasts for a month - well, not literally - and then the others get a go. You need to use dragons to search for the elusive - and inevitable - pieces of a magic talisman. You start with one dragon and can go to an incubation room to plant dragon eggs. Here, you adjust the heat and condensation levels and generally look after the egg until it hatches, spewing forth its fire-breathing inhabitant.

All this heat and energy costs money - and you get that by taking over villages and charging tax to the proles. But, set the tax too high and you risk a bloody uprising. There are plenty of other ways of making money, but we're not going to tell you what they are.

Pieces of the talisman are scattered around and you occasionally have to approach some beastie and severely beat him around the face and neck to get to them. The object is to end up with a dragon guarding each section of the talisman. Dragon's Breath is easy to get into, but the spell-casting is complex and needs a bit of experimenting. Lots of aspects to the gameplay make it a versatile and varied game.

A brilliant compilation with a bit of something for every taste, provided you like role-playing games of course. Excellent value for money too. Even if you own one or two of the games, get it now.