Years ago, there was a superb text only adventure called The Lords Of Time. Some time after this came two other acclaimed adventures: Red Moon and The Price Of Magik. All three were from Level 9, one of the prime software houses in the UK. Later adventures from this source had limited graphics that were more to satisfy distributors than the players themselves.

Level 9 is like a good claret, improving over the years. Recent titles are Knight Orc and Gnome Ranger. Both have a good story line, very good graphics on machines with a larger memory and vastly improved parsers. Level 9 has now teamed up with Mandarin Software and under the title Time And Magik has re-released the first three titles I mentioned. All now have good graphics and the improved parser and operating system seen on more recent games.

Lords Of Time is a magical tour though nine ages of man in search of nine vital objects. Having found them, they must be placed in the Cauldron of Time to defeat the wicked purposes of the evil Timelords. There are puzzles galore and the plot never lets you rest from this task, chosen for you by Father Time himself.

Red Moon is about a land where rnagik works, but not as strongly as in days gone by. In the past the moon was crimson red and the source of all the great magiks. As the moon faded to the grey we know today, the magik waned. A great concourse of magicians created the Red Moon Crystal as a substitute. Mounted in the Moon Tower of Baskalos it shone out over the kingdom, maintaining an island of magik. But the great crystal was stolen.

The Red Moon is the story of how a magician (you) recovered this fabulous gem and restored hope to the world. A number of decidedly aggressive creatures are waiting for you and fighting them with bare hands is not recommended. Find a useful weapon and, better still, some armour.

The use of magik is vital to success. To use spells you must enter a command of the type CAST ZAP. Each spell may only be cast successfully if you have the object that is the focus for that particular spell. To CAST ZAP you must have a jewelled dagger. You cannot cast a spell if you have iron on or near you.

The Price Of Magik is a sequel to Red Moon. Most of the action takes place in The House of the Red Moon and the crux of the game is your search to find and defeat the evil sorcerer Myglar. There are no pure treasures to find and no score is given. SCORE is recognised and will elicit a report on your present Sanity and apparent age.

The aim is to learn, and find a use for, some 18 odd spells that will finally enable you to neutralise Myglars powers. Again, a weapon and armour are useful before you get too involved. Magik will help, but remember that killing might release your opponents' ghosts, who may not be all that friendly towards you in the future.

You may control some creatures, magik being a definite plus for this. Using the 18 spells follows the same principles in Red Moon, and Level 9's own brand of humour is never far away.

Comprehensive clue sheets are available, and Level 9's are by far and away the best I have ever seen. Even if you want to cheat heavily, the clues will only point you in the right direction and not give you an answer to the entire game.

Time And Magik is available on cassette and disc for CPC machines and is well worth buying. All three adventures are classics of their kind and are not only a good challenge but are full of humour and clever puzzles.