Previous Next

Traditions are more trouble than they're worth. They cause all kinds of daft situations. Up and down the country in early May, hordes of pupils are forced to dance embarrassingly round the Maypole. Why? Because it's traditional! Grown men tie bells to their knees, call it Morris dancing and we aren't allowed to laugh. And why? Because it's traditional!

The Caliph of Baghdad is a victim of tradition too. Every year he has to display the royal sceptre of power to his people. If he shows up with the curvy sword, he stays in power but if it's fallen down the back of the sofa and he can't produce it then he's deposed and the person who finds it gets to be boss.

The problem is that this year, on the night before the sceptre-showing ceremony, an evil rival magically shrinks the Caliph. As well as putting a major zap on his head this also makes getting hold of the sceptre more than a little difficult. At this point you take over and have to guide the Big C - well, the Quite Little C now, actually - around his palace in a bid to recover the sceptre before lunch. Cue a running-about, object collecting arcade adventure very much in the Dizzy mould. Free from the shackles of the egg's own cute trappings, though, Sceptre has the chance to bring the mysterious world of the Arabian Nights to the Commodore 64.

The Caliph's first major problem is coming to terms with his new size. Firstly his pockets have shrunk along with him which means you can only carry two objects at any one time - a real problem as there's the inevitable temptation to nab everything you find lying around. And judging by the amount of kit you can find, the palace cleaner has been slacking. This forces you to do the old Dizzy routine of running from location to location, strategically dropping kit for Ron, later Ron.

The most important item you can collect is the traditional Arabian hanky. Now this is pretty useless on its own but not when used in conjunction with the traditional Arabian lamp replete with genie. When the lamp is rubbed, the smokey one pops out and gives you a clue about the next puzzle.

The genie, the puzzles and the number of objects you can collect make Sceptre a real challenge and one that's well worth getting stuck into - or even getting stuck on! Based on an old Speccy classic, both the plot and the game have been re-worked for the 90's so the mechanics of the game, and the plot, have been suitably updated.

Sceptre is a little special. There's a save game function for starters. It isn't a permanent save and only operates once per game, but if you want to try something particularly dangerous it means you can chance your arm with without the risk of a re-start. There are even two graphics modes and more music than your sound chip's chucked out for ages.

Sceptre Of Baghdad could never be called exciting, but it does hold the attention. The smallish puzzles come in rapid succession rather than just blocking you with one irresolvable problem. The music, graphics and sound effects help you to forget that you're actually playing an adventure. The flick-screen scrolling does its best to break down this illusion, but you soon learn to ignore it, when the problem-solving gets under- [some text missing]

1. A huge map crammed with hidden connections.
2. Loads of options.
3. Great music.
4. Rapid fire poser.

1. Not exactly thrill-a-minute stuff!
2. Some puzzles are too tangential for their own good.