In this strange little Spanish game, you take the role of a podgy little man with a permanent grin, and must explore a spooky old castle, gathering the tools needed to free your friend - a ghost - who has been trussed up in a cage (why doesn't he just float through the bars?) Of course, like virtually all Spanish games, the difficulty is cranked sky-high. The castle is a maze of epic proportions, with all the rooms very similar in appearance, and although enemies are fairly few and far between, and you can collect talismans to destroy them, you'll soon run out and have to resort to jumping over them - an action requiring supreme precision. And on top of all that, the graphics and sound are very bad as well.

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Infected by the jungle wolf from his adventures in Sabre Wulf, Sabreman makes his way to castle Knightlore in order to find the great wizard Melkhior to cure him of the curse of the werewolf. However, the mage does not grant an audience easily and has surrounded himself with numerous guardians for protection, and a labyrinth of traps and tests all around to prevent all but the most persistent of unwanted guests from reaching him. Your goal is to find the potion within the timespan of 40 days and nights or you will remain a werewolf forever. Superb puzzle game with your character's midnight-changing shenanigans being particularly amusing!

See also: Sabre Wulf.

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Knightmare
(Activision, 1987)

The TV series this game was based on was brilliant - a young adventurer has to go through three levels of a dungeon, solving puzzles and avoiding traps along the way, aided by three of his friends. The aim of this game is slightly similar and retains some features of the TV series; you have to defeat the dragon lurking somewhere in the dungeons, and must enlist the help of the oracles and Treguard the dungeon master. The graphics are fairly basic but aren't bad, but there are very few sound effects and even these aren't good. It's not a bad game, actually, although the hardest part is getting out of the first two rooms!

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Michael Knight and his amazing talking car KITT have received news of a nationwide terrorist plot to bring about the destruction of America, so they must save the day. Based on the hit 1980s TV show, the game has several quests to choose from, such as foiling the assassination of the President or locating the terrorists' hidden bomb supply, and two different styles of gameplay; a basic driving game where you can control either the handling of the car or the shooting down of enemy helicopters (the computer controls the other), and an overhead-viewed stealth-type game for when you are inside buildings. Despite a nice feeling of being involved in the missions, the game is let down by its appalling graphics, basic sound, its long tedious driving sections, and the fact that it's far too easy.

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After rescuing Gimbal in Spellbound, Magic Knight is now a stowaway on board the USS Pisces starship in the 25th century, and has to find some way of getting home. The first thing he'll need to do is to authorise himself and to take the ship to the nearest starbase - then he can transport the ship all around the star system and visit lots of planets. This is the third of four games featuring Magic Knight and I think it is the best of the lot, although you'll get sick of the music before long. It's not all that difficult, but there are a lot of interesting characters to meet. This is my favourite game in the Magic Knight series.

See also: Finders Keepers, Spellbound, Stormbringer.

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Here is a game (often spelt as Kobyashi Naru) which is so confusing that it's not true. A gamesmaster has set you a mission where you must solve three puzzles based on knowledge, wisdom and understanding. You can only attempt one puzzle at a time and can't try another until you've completed it. The interface is like that of a text adventure game except that commands are entered by selecting icons. Unfortunately, once you start playing it, you'll find that it is extremely slow and also that the game makes absolutely no sense at all - and who wants to play an adventure that is totally illogical?

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Confusingly, Ocean released this game before Donkey Kong on the CPC. Like the aforementioned game, Kong the giant gorilla has captured a beautiful princess, but this time he has climbed on to a rollercoaster track. You don't play Mario, but whatever the name of the man you control is, you have to reach the princess while dodging all of the cars, by climbing ladders which are strategically placed around the track. There are also money and letters scattered about, and you can use bombs to destroy the cars - but you only have a limited number of them. The graphics are rather simple, but the music is a brilliant little piece which I could hum along to all day! The levels are generally well designed, and it's a nice, enjoyable little game to play.

See also: Donkey Kong.

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It's Breakout time once again! This version really doesn't offer anything different to the others, and it's hard to see how I can recommend it. Unlike most other bat and ball games, the bricks are situated at the left of the screen with the bat on the right (although you can swap them round). You can also customise the game, with six different speeds for the ball and nine for the bat. This is welcome, because the default speeds make the game very hard indeed. Add that to a small playing area, jolly title music that becomes irritating after a few listens, and rather average graphics, and you've got a pretty standard game.

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Kung Fu Master
(US Gold, 1986)
Reviewed by Chris Lennard

In this all out action beat-'em-up, you have to rescue your woman from some evil swine's clutches. Kick and punch your way up through five floors of his base confronted by numerous minions. These range from simple henchmen, to killer bees, dragons, knifemen and cunning midgets. You also have to defeat ever tougher guardians before you can progress to the next level. Despite its appearence, this is no simple game and it requires a fair amount of skill and luck to get near the finish which is almost nigh-on impossible. It's also less faithful to the arcade game than other 8-bit versions, but it remains a highly enjoyable romp.

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The wizard Zaks has imprisoned four members of the Yolkfolk on four different islands, and you have to rescue them. Each island consists of several sub-levels where you have to eat all the fruit. The monsters are removed by pushing blocks around, but they'll reappear after a short time. There's also a bonus level where again you must collect as much fruit as you can, but this time, the floor is made of ice! This game is OK and I like the graphics very much, as well as the cool music, but like most of the other Dizzy arcade games, it's far too easy and it won't take much time for you to complete it.

See also: Bubble Dizzy, Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, Dizzy, Dizzy Down the Rapids, Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk, Fantasy World Dizzy, Fast Food, Magicland Dizzy, Panic Dizzy, Spellbound Dizzy, Treasure Island Dizzy.

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