Amstrad ------- Just when you thought the Amstrad wasn't getting anywhere, Amsoft bring out Pascal, Kuma produces a version of Logo, and Arnor and Juma release assemblers. The Pascal looks very good on paper at least, but the state of the Logo is less sure. Arnor's assembler is superior to Kuma's Zen, outperforming it but costing £8 less. We'll be comparing the assemblers in the near future.

Amsoft continues to release games for its machine, and it looks as if support from third party software houses is growing rapidly. Better still, software standards seem to be rising as well, as witnessed by Manic Miner from Software Projects. Hisoft Pascal £24.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Fruit Machine £8.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Pitman Typing Tutor £9.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Screen Designer £14.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Mr. Wong's Loopy Laundry £8.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Mutant Monty £8.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Bridge Player £9.95 CP Software 0423-57089 Manic Miner £8.95 Amsoft 0277-230222 Logo £19.95 Kuma 0735-4335 Assembler £11.60 Arnor PO Box 169, London SE25 Wise and Fool £6.50 Nemesis 0933-623967 Crystal Theft £7.99 Wiccasoft 0625-72988 Spectrum -------- Gift From The Gods is Ocean's latest and it's rather better than the disappointing follow-ups to Hunchback and Kong. You're in the role of Oristes, and if you think that's an odd name you rmother's called Clytaemnestra.

But seriously, this graphic adventure is based on the Greek tragedy in which Orestes, aided by the Gods, must regain the Mycenae kingdom from this evil mother. To do this he has to find his sister Electra whom his mother has imprisoned in the catacombs below the palace.

The action boils down to the last bit. It's largely a maze-type game, the graphics are quite well done and the action tricky.

Loading routines are getting more and more advanced. First the BBC used a counter, so you could tell how long a game would take to load. Then many software houses wrote fast loaders for the Commodore 64 or licensed Novaload or Pavloda.

New Generation's Technician Ted adds to the range with an animated loading display. Ten coloured figures march to and frod and a counter indicates 'T minus' units.

The game is a difficult platform affair and a full review will be published soon. Gift From The Gods £9.95 Ocean 061-832 6633 Lazy Jones £6.95 Terminal 061-761 4321 Beam Rider £7.99 Activision 0628-75171 Pitfall 2 £8.99 Activision 0628-75171 3D Starstrike £5.95 Real Time 0532-458948 The Jewel Of Power £9.50 Slogger 0634-811634 Arendarvon Castle £5.95 Addison Wesley 0734-794000 Technician Ted £7.95 New Generation 0273-693640 Heathrom ATC £7.95 Hewson 0273-693640 Hunchback 2 £6.95 Ocean 061-832 6633 Kong Strikes Back £6.95 Ocean 061-832 6633 Match Day £7.95 Ocean 061-832 6633 Buggy Blast £5.95 Firebird 01-375 6755 Space Shuttle £7.99 Activision 0628-75171 BBC --- Some of Acornsoft's recent releases look promising, there's a couple of decent games like Labyrinth, and Acheton could easily become a very popular adventure despite its price. We'll be comparing Acornsoft's GO with another soon, and it's interesting to note that neither version uses the full 19 x 19 board.

Sound synthesisers for the Beeb have enjoyed considerable attention recently, the latest is Fsoft's Music Maker. This offers some 16 preset tones, tone envelope editing, keyboard mode, colour display and much more. Given the price it's an interesting product. The Wizard Citadel £6.95 Triffid 0425-616605 The Secret River £6.95 Triffid 0425-616605 Music Maker £9.00 Fsoft 0273-736042 Fmon £9.00 Fsoft 0273-736042 Holy Horrors £6.99 Romik 0753-71535 Complete Cocktail Maker £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Firebug £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Maze £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Labyrinth £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Black Box & Gambit £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Bouncer £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Go £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 The Seventh Star £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Quondam £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Workshop £9.95 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Acheton £17.65 Acornsoft 0223-316039 Commodore 64 ------------ If you need a spreadsheet for your C64, you might take a leaf out of many an Apple user's book and invest in a copy of Practicalc II. For just under £70 you get a tried and tested product.

Melbourne House showed Castle Of Terrors at the PCW show in September, but it didn't release it till just before Christmas. It's an illustrated adventure which features animated characters but this isn't exploited as much as it could and should have been.

Leisure Genius continues to dominate the field of board game conversions for micros. Its latest is Monopoly.

Shoot The Rapids is an original and addictive game. It takes the unlikely theme of canoe simulation. Practicalc II £69.96 Practicorp 0473-462721 Castle Of Terrors £9.95 Melbourne House 01-940 6064 Match Point £7.95 Psion 01-723 9408 Monopoly £12.95 Leisure Genius 01-935 917440 Country Quest £5.50 Wye Valley 05446-202 Big Ben £7.00 Interceptor 07356-3711 Cad Cam Warrior £9.95 Task Set 0262-673798 Tristan & Isolde £8.95 CRL 01-533 2918 Spiderman £9.95 Adventure Intl 021-359 0801 Space Shuttle £9.99 Activision 0628-75171 Titans £6.99 Romik 0753-71535 Animal Magic £6.99 Romik 0753-71535 Aliard's Tome £6.99 Romik 0753-71535 Shoot The Rapids £7.95 New Generation 0273-693640 Indiana Jones £9.95 US Gold 021-359 3020 Break Fever £7.50 Interceptor Micros 0735-71145 Zaga Mission £7.95 Anirog 0322-92513