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War, what is it good for? Apparently, taking control of the throne, as King Rizek's desire for peace sits at odds with those closest to him. This results in the wizard laying a curse and turning him into a beast by ripping his soul from him. An earthquake breaks Rizek free from his thousand-year prison, enabling him to find the twelve spirit stones holding his soul. These must be taken to the "soul room" and placed in the correct order.

Hints as to the correct order are written on the walls of certain rooms as you explore. Searching objects in each room may reveal the soul stones you require or magic potions that stun, slow down or clear a screen of creatures. Stone amulets grant temporary invincibility and jewels add points to your score. There are a number of respawn points within the game that regenerate your energy and, if you die, you respawn close to that point.

This Special Edition also adds a new loading picture and music, controllable jumping, better room and enemy balance, and easier-to-read tunes. What are you waiting for, get on with restoring Rizek's soul!

Soulless is a great game for gaming magpies... there are so many shiny things to collect (well, search) that it should occupy any hoarder for months! On first play, this Special Edition doesn't seem to change too much, but some changes are subtle. Most obvious are the tweaks to the controls, which make it more enjoyable to play.

Some of the graphics have been given added clarity, making for a nicer experience overall. The game is just as addictive, if not more so due to the quality of life enhancements, and exploring and mapping soon becomes absorbing. It's not hard to make good progress but actually completing the game is a fair challenge; one that platform fans and mappers should not miss.

Soulless SE is a great game for mapping, helped by the fast pace of Rizek which allows you to open up more and more of the temple quickly and fairly easily while getting addicted to treasure collecting. Sure, there are plenty of monsters but they are never impossible to pass, and it doesn't punish you too hard even if you do bump into them.

Saying that, it's a good job recharge points are present: they are nicely spaced out through the temple and can be real life savers if you mess up a few times.

There's a real feeling of a finely tuned game at work here. The graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is pleasant and the control of Rizek feels very good indeed. It would have been nice to have your high score retained and the long term appeal once completed is questionable.

As the person who was least enamoured by the original Soulless when we reviewed in in the very first Zzap! Annual, it was an interesting experience to come back to it. Thankfully, pretty much everything I liked has been kept, and some of aspects that I did not, such as the clunky jump mechanics, have been tweaked.

Likewise, some of the difficulty balance to make it less of a frustration in certain rooms. It's still no Impossible Mission, but the changes and improvements definitely add to the game as a whole and make it better.

Presentation 75%
Lacks in-game and menu options, the intro and outro sequences are great.

Graphics 89%
Lovely use of colour in backgrounds, with a distinctive main sprite.

Sound 87%
Atmospheric tunes and adequate in-game FX.

Hookability 86%
Instantly addictive with its collecting mechanics.

Lastability 79%
Exploring and mapping the large game area is fun while it lasts.

Overall 84%
An improvement on the original edition and an absorbing game.