Monty on the Run is the second Monty Mole game out of four for the CPC, and the story goes that our hero has escaped from jail and is making a bid for freedom, with his aim being to get to France. Strangely, this involves Monty somersaulting around a load of platforms avoiding strange enemies like teapots and giant hands. The graphics are detailed and pretty nice, the sound is good, but the game is way too hard! For example, at the start of the game you select five out of twenty or so items to take with you. Some are vital, some are deadly, some are useless, but choose the wrong ones and you soon find yourself stuck. Add to this the annoying totally random crushers, the teleporters which take you anywhere you don't want to be, and the split-second timing needed for every jump, and you get one of the hardest games ever made - which is a shame because apart from that, it's really good.

See also: Auf Wiedersehen Monty, Impossamole.

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Monty Python's Flying Circus
(Virgin, 1990)

And now for something completely different... D. P. Gumby's brain has split into four pieces which have all wandered off. As Mr. Gumby, you must collect all the pieces on each of the four levels of the game. During the game, you will encounter all sorts of Monty Python-related silliness and wackiness. It's a platform game-cum-shoot-'em-up, but it's great fun! You also need to shoot pieces of cheese which will reveal food to boost your energy, and tins of spam which are required if you want to collect those piece of Mr. Gumby's brain (you need 16 in each level). The graphics are spectacularly wonderful, although there isn't much in the way of sound effects, and even if you're not a fan of Monty Python, this is still a thoroughly enjoyable, and crazy, game to play.

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Somewhere within the ruins of a city lies a monument which you must reach. However, the city is filled with robots and mines, both of which will kill you if you come into contact with them, losing one of your seven lives. Most of the robots don't shoot at you, but occasionally there are some larger robots which will fire at you and will take several shots to destroy. The graphics are very nicely drawn, and the colours reflect the sombre mood; the silhouettes against the setting sun in the sky are particularly good. On the other hand, there isn't much in the way of sound, and the gameplay is so frustratingly difficult that you'll want to throw your keyboard or joystick against the wall.

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Every year, a battle takes place on the Three Moons galactic system. Whoever wins the contest obtains the rights to exploit the resources of the moons. Last year, the Cyruls won, so this year, you have been chosen to beat them. Yes, you must take on the might of the Cyruls single-handedly; it's not a fair contest, is it? The game is really simple; shoot the Cyruls while driving around the arena trying to avoid them, since the Cyrul vehicles are suicidal and try to crash into you, losing you energy. An alarm will sound if you reach the edge of the arena, and if you stray outside it, the game is over. The 3D graphics are very fast, and the music and presentation are very nice as well. The gameplay, however, is limited, and rather difficult.

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Drive your moon buggy across the lunar surface, avoiding craters by jumping over them, and shooting rocks that stand in your way, as well as the 'planes which fly over you and occasionally fire bullets at you. It's a really simple game which doesn't stand the test of time any more. The graphics aren't that good, although the scrolling background featuring volcanoes and craters works well to create an impression of movement, and the sound effects are awful. As for the gameplay, it's too repetitive and there's not enough to do.

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Moon Cresta
(Incentive, 1986)

A space shoot-'em-up based on the coin-op of the same name. Just shoot the waves of aliens and don't crash into them; that's easier said than done, though, because by the third wave, there are a lot of aliens to shoot and they fly around the screen very fast indeed! Your spaceship is divided into three parts, and each part represents one of your three lives. The first part only has a single laser, but the second and third parts are more powerful. The graphics are fairly good, and I really like the colourful twinkling stars in the background; it's a very nice effect. The explosions are noisy, too. However, it's such a difficult game that you need extremely good reflexes, as well as luck, to get past the fourth wave of aliens.

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Your friend, Tamara Lynd, has asked you to come to Tresyllian Castle to investigate a ghost. Arriving at the castle at 7:00pm, you meet Tamara and the occupants of the castle and have dinner with them - but you also have to take part in a treasure hunt while trying to identify the ghost. Where the treasure is, what the treasure is, and who the ghost is changes in each of the four variations of this text adventure, depending on what you enter as your favourite colour (red, yellow, green or blue). Some of the variations are very interesting... This is one of the easiest of Infocom's text adventures; it's so easy that even I completed it quickly, and I'm not a big fan of text adventures. As a result, there's little else to merit the game.

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Princess Lalena has been captured by the Dark Lord, and you have to rescue her by battling through four levels of platforming action and collecting the three parts of Moontorc on each one. Each level has three shops where you can buy the parts of Moontorc, as well as keys - a lot of extra objects are hidden behind coloured doors, and making a map is almost essential since you may well have to restart the game if you don't have the right key - very annoying! Despite this, the game is actually very good (especially the graphics) and probably the best game that Atlantis has released.

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Morris the car is in a multi-storey car park and has to get out - but the Phantom, Phreaky, Phearsome Kamikaze Bikers from the constellation of Morris Minor are driving manically around the car park! Honestly, this is the actual scenario of the game! You have to use the lifts to collect ten coins, while warding off the Bikers with your horn, and avoiding the parking fees (represented by pink boxes) and other hazards. Because of the year the game was released, the graphics and sound effects are primitive, and the gameplay is very simple. It's OK, but all the screens are the same, so it becomes repetitive.

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Fancy testing your skills on an off-road scrambler bike? Then try this. On each level there's an obstacle course where you jump over logs, rocks and chasms, and a time trial section where you have to complete the course within a time limit. The graphics are all right, although the colours used are horrible, and the music is OK too. The sound effects are limited to the humming of your engine, and in fact, it looks like you're doing about 10mph on the obstacle courses! It is let down by the game not being at all easy to get into - getting your bike over the first obstacle can be a feat in itself.

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