Software reviews¢¢Not much new for the Atari 8-bit at the¢moment, except this one...¢*¢Tarkus and the Crystal of Fear¢from Tiger Developments¢¢This is the second game from the Essex¢based software company and if the¢quality stays the same as it has been¢with their first two releases then we¢must all eagerly await future products.¢Anyway in this game the story goes...¢The year is 2003 and a huge war is¢threatening to break out. The only hope¢of saving the planet is to find the¢four 'Crystals of Emotion', these are¢the Crystal of Life, the Crystal of¢Peace, the Crystal of Generosity and¢the Crystal of Fear. If these crystals¢are found and brought back to Earth¢then the balance of emotions will be¢restored and peace will reign.¢You play Tarkus, a Druid who has been¢retired for twenty years and although¢may have put on a few pounds has lost¢none of the knowledge of magic or zest¢for life. You decide that you are best¢placed to go in search for the four¢crystals and after the long journey to¢Lake Land, your begin your hunt...¢And so the game starts.¢You find yourself in Lake Land and¢before you are four lakes, you must¢jump into one of these lakes to be¢transported into a different world.¢There are four worlds: Stone, Crystal,¢Magic and Gold.¢In each world are many objects that¢must be collected, you can only hold¢two objects and a key at any one time.¢All objects carried are displayed in¢the bottom portion of the screen.¢In the World of Magic there is a¢cauldron and objects must be taken to¢this to create spells, once a spell¢has been created it can be cast, but¢spells only work for a very short¢amount of time, so be careful not to¢activate them too soon!¢Each combination of objects creates a¢different spell and the spell created¢will be highlighted in the bottom¢portion of the screen.¢Spells are cast by pressing the¢appropiate number next to each spell.¢When each crystal has been found you¢must return to Lake Land for your¢reward.¢Although I think the game is great it¢does have faults, I personally think¢the cauldron should be in a much more¢easily accessible place, I seem to¢lose most of my energy going to mix my¢spells! Also the music is pretty bad,¢but thankfully it can be turned off¢(though strangely not in Lake Land).¢All together a superb little game, it¢doesn't come close to some Zeppelin¢products, but at least the effort and¢time put into this game is obvious.¢Do your bit and support 'Tiger¢Developments', the Atari 8-bit needs¢all the support it can get. There¢hasn't been a new Atari cassette for¢around six months, will there ever be¢another one? Who knows! But what I do¢know is that if 'Tiger Developments'¢do not get the support they deserve,¢they will surely die.¢The game can be purchased (with full¢instructions, the game is unplayable¢without them) from:¢Tiger Developments, 26 Menzies Avenue,¢Walmer, Deal, Kent, CT14 7QZ.¢Cost: 4.99.¢SUPPORT THEM, THEY DO DESERVE IT!¢
