Amstrad Computer User
1st June 1985
Publisher: Melbourne House
Machine: Amstrad CPC464
Published in Amstrad Computer User #7
Sir Lancelot
As with many of the other popular home computers, platform and ladder type games seem by far the most abundant. Sir Lancelot is yet another game of this type. Having loaded, you are presented with a multi-coloured title screen across which scrolls the usual sort of inane message. Hitting a key will then take you to 'Merlins Magic Teleport Chamber', where, by picking up any of the twenty-three visible axe like objects, you are magically trans-ported to one of the playing screens. As with most games of this type, the screens consist of, not suprisingly, solid platforms, and ladders, which may be used to gain access to the higher platforms.
To hinder your attempts to pick up the five or six visible objects on any screen, there are the indispensable moving sprite characters, contact with which will invariably mean sudden death. Having got all of the visible objects, a final flashing one appears which, when touched, returns you back to the teleport chamber so that you may go on to a further room.
Unfortunately, that's all there is too it. This game is very similar to a lot of other games and to stand out would require some sort of novel touch - which, I'm afraid to say, it hasn't got. At one time, 23 screens would have made for quite an impressive game - however, by recent standards, this one is left trailing a little. That isn't to say that it has no redeeming features, indeed for someone who has never played a platform and ladders type of game, this one could be quite a good introduction.
The ability to play any of the screens, without having to work through those that preceed it, is quite a bonus. The time limit that is set for each screen (shown by a count down from 999) does appear a little short and will hinder novices while just proving an irration to old hacks. A rather curious effect of not using interrupts to drive the sprites means that as lives are lost and the number of walking men falls, the whole pace of the game increases - however I think one could almost call this an unprogrammed feature. My attempts to transfer the game to disc were hindered slightly by an ingenious mechanism that can spot that the game has been copied and halts it displaying the word PIRATE - this is relatively simple to stop, but quite ingenious none the less - shame the rest of the game were not so innovative.