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This was Rafaelle Cecco's last title working under the Hewson banner, as I believe it was Hewson's final release. They were suffering from financial difficulties, and closed their doors after the release of this game. Fortunately, they re-opened as 21st Century Entertainment almost days after. Cecco himself moved to Vivid as a freelance programmer after leaving Hewson.

DELIVERANCE - STORMLORD II
Hewson £9.99/£14.99

Fairies are no end of trouble! Especially for the returning hero Stormlord. This time the winged beauties have been kidnapped by the followers of the wicked Black Queen: underground you go to complete your rescue mission - right down into Hell (brrrr!). It's not a very nice place, with plenty of the Black Queen's minions to keep you occupied. Acid droplets, bouncing eggs, green trolls who hop around, zombies and vampires are just some of the vile creatures you face.

Whether it's a good omen or bad, a variety of weapons can be picked up: they belonged to other explorers who never escaped. Some are more powerful than others, it's up to you to discover their advantages and disadvantages as mistakes could cost you a life. Occasionally Stormlord is put into a bonus level where fairies drop him gold coins which add up to an extra life for every ten.

Another interesting feature is your ability to tame a wild dragon.

This happens when you prevent her eggs from striking the ground. With the green 'n' scaley mama on your side, your mobility and firepower increases.

The first thing that strikes you in Deliverance is the size of the character sprite - either Stormlord has been stretched on a rack or programmer Raff Cecco has seen fit to improve his stature (methinks it's the latter - Ed). The second is just how much tougher this is than its predecessor. It took me a long time to get off even the first couple of screens. The main culprits are the enemy forces - much too vicious too early in the game. I feel a lot of people may not persevere with this for that reason. Which is a shame because it really is rather good, once a bit of practice has been put in.

MARK - 80%
Will Raff Cecco ever rest on his laurels? I certainly hope not if he keeps producing games like this! His Cybernoid games were beyond belief, and now Stormlord looks set to carry on the tradition. Deliverance is an action packed game, full of exciting graphics and plenty of colour - and it's tough! Stormlord was a piece of cake in comparison. The tunes and sound effects which accompany the action are equally impressive. Another masterpiece of programming from Raff Cecco and Hewson which should keep you playing for ages!

NICK - 89%

RATING
Stormlord returns - action packed, but tough
Presentation 85%
Graphics 85%
Sound 82%
Playability 83%
Addictivity 84%
Overall 85%