The Darkness Hour¢-----------------¢¢Available from Micro Discount. Tel 021 353 5730.¢¢Derek Fern at Micro Discount has been importing quite a few games from Poland and other European countries in the last few months or so. Prices were originally around #5.95, but recently all new releases have been priced around #6.95 - except this one, which costs #5.95.¢ The story behind the game is a rather bizarre one, with stories of faithful knights' souls being turned into butterflies raising a smile! Still, the game's from Poland so that should explain a lot (knowing nods all round!).¢ Anyway, when 'The Darkness Hour' loads you'll be presented with an above average title screen and some rather good music.¢ Press FIRE and you'll begin your quest to find the knights' souls/butterflies! The animation of yourself isn't too bad but can look a little blurred when running along. Your character seems to be some sort of green bug wearing a cloak. The screens flip when you move from location to location which makes gameplay quicker than scrolling screens would. And there are times when you'll need to be quick!¢ In your quest for the butterflies you'll find only one adversary; a stone age type of chap who is making a guest appearance from 'Fred', I think. He isn't at all hard to get rid of and a blast of your daggers will send him packing. Beware though! If you kill 'Fred' and then collect an object in the same location, he'll be mysteriously re-incarnated! Very strange.¢ A number of locked doors bar your way at times and keys are scattered over the levels to help you on your way. Be careful when and where you use the keys though because there are more doors than keys! You could find yourself trapped with no option but to restart. To collect objects just stand under them and push up on the joystick.¢ There are a number of teleporters on each level which will transport you to and from previously inaccessible areas. To use a teleporter you must stand on it and pull the joystick down.¢ Each level has a strict time limit as all butterflies must be collected before dawn. The passing of time is depicted by a scrolling moon and sun - nice.¢ I was actually enjoying the game, and was ready to give it an OK review, until I received the message 'CONGRATULATION' (nice font) and the game ended! Was that it? I'd hardly been playing it for 10 minutes and I'd already finished it! Sheesh!¢ The best thing about this game is the music. There are two tunes, one which plays whilst the title screen is showing and one whilst you're playing the game. The one whilst you play is excellent, reminds me of something but I can't quite guess what! Both tunes are created with the 'Chaos Music Composer'.¢ Sorry, but I can't recommend this game at all! It was OK but it is much too short to give anyone but the most desperate games-player value for money. Try something else.¢¢reviewed by John E. (TEBSF)¢*¢Minesweeper¢-----------¢¢Available from D.G.S. Tel 0302 855026.¢¢'Minesweeper' is one of a number of games and utilities under the PPP Germany label and available from 'Dean Garraghty Software' in the UK. 'Minesweeper' will cost #4.95 on its own but if purchased with 'Rubber Ball' and 'Glaggs It!' you wil get all three for only #12.50.¢ The aim of 'Minesweeper' is to find hidden mines and disarm them. To find and disarm the mines you are given a few clues; for example, if you uncover a square and are given the number '4' then it means that 4 of the adjacent squares has a mine under it. If you uncover a '2' then 2 of the squares contain a mine. Using this information you are supposed to either find all the safe squares or disarm the mines. I think this game is a little unfair as uncovering a square in the middle of nowhere can uncover a mine and your game is over. The instructions say "...sometimes only the lucky will survive." Sometimes?¢ If you uncover a square that is blank then all surrounding squares are automatically uncovered, and if any of them are blank then they are uncovered and so on. It is usually when a few numbers are next to each other when you'll know for certain whether or not the uncovered squares contain a mine.¢ You can either use a joystick or an Atari ST compatible mouse to play the game. I've tried both and the mouse is by far the more comfortable and easiest to use.¢ The disk does have a high-score update feature so if you get one of the top scores then you can have your achievement saved on disk.¢ A thing I didn't like about the game is that if you impatiently keep tapping FIRE on your joystick to start the game, the game will start but expect input from a mouse! Also, there's no way to quit the game so your only option is to reboot (or wait sixty minutes for the timer to exhaust itself!).¢ Overall, the game is OK but I'm hardly addicted to it. It seems extrememly tough and unforgiving at first but if you persist then you'll find quite a good game in there.¢ The instructions are nice and much more informative than the instructions on games from Derek Fern (if you can call them instructions!).¢ If you don't own this game or 'Rubber Ball' and 'Glaggs It!' then I suggest you buy the three-pack as it shows excellent value-for-money. I can't really recommend 'Mine Sweeper' on its own though.¢¢reviewed by John E. (TEBSF)¢
