Cronosoft has two new pieces of quality entertainment software ready on real cassette tape to load into either your Sinclair ZX Spectrum or unexpanded Commodore VIC-20, depending on which title you choose.

The first is a special edition of Ghost Castle (GC II by The Bog Brothers, which has an entirely new game world for you to explore, as well as some nice bonus features. Every sale helps to raise money for a very good cause, which you'll find out about when you visit Cronosoft's web site. Also included on the old magnetic media is the original Ghost Castle on the other side, all for £3.99 plus postage.

GC II tells the spooky story of our ghostly hero Gene, who is hunting for his lost body. He must search the haunted Castle grounds for the Resurrection Amulet, while avoiding the unrested souls that wander menacingly there. It is, in many ways, quite similar to early explorer games such as Ultimate Play The Game's Sabre Wulf, released for the popular 8-bit way back in 1984, and GC II plays just as well as Ultimate's classic production.

Moving on to the old VIC-20, Theater Of War, by prominent programmer known as 'Ghislain' who hails from Canada (hence the Canadian spelling of theatre), is a World War II turn-based strategy game requiring no extra memory: simulating Germany's Eastern front between the USSR and German armies. The aim is to manoeuvre your infantry to occupy and defend the hard fought territory, taking the side of the heavily outnumbered Germans. It's certainly a thinking person's game. As an added bonus, and if you want less thinking in your gaming, the flipside of the cassette has a free wrestling game called Face Vs Heel, which may be a bit of an odd mix, but a good one. This release costs just 2.99 plus postage. The aforementioned site has all of the details.

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Spain-based Kabuto Factory has released its debut Speccy game Aahku al Rescate (translated as Aahku To The Rescue) into the World of Spectrum archives at www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek.cgi. This game has been skilfully coded by Baron Ashler. You're unsurprisingly tasked with saving a trapped friend while avoiding the on-screen nasties freely roaming about to stop you. It's a simple case of grabbing the key while avoiding the hazards and roamers, which will then free your jailed friend so you can finally find a safe route to him before the time runs out. The game is a pacey affair, with a simple-but-solid and familiar game engine. It can be downloaded directly from tinyurl.com/Aahku-al-Rescate

That's all for this week, but before I go, I'll remind you that you may contact me by email. Send in your retro-related questions, stories, memories or news to shaunf@micromart.co.uk, or use the Micro Mart forums available through the website at www.micromart.co.uk. See you next week!