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Rainbird, £14.95


Jewels of Darkness follows the usual rules of naming software, ie make it sound like everything else. In fact this unoriginal title covers a trilogy of very famous games, games which go back to the very earliest days of adventuring. Colossal Adventure, the first of the three, is a direct descendant of the Crowther and Woods mainframe jaunt. This was the bane of many an academic computing fraternity in the late seventies and early eighties. Adventure Quest, the second tape, is played out on the same ground as the first, but is a LEVEL 9 original, while Dungeon Adventure completes the trilogy with the most original story and feel of the lot.

All three have been completely overhauled and updated since their first release, with extended text descriptions, enhanced language manipulation, and, most noticeably to a Colossal veteran, pictures. Even if these do only amount to the usual LEVEL 9 minimalistic art school, they still add some colour to these text classics.

The packaging is of the very highest standard with full instructions (which even go so far as telling you how to wrestle with the firm plastic casings), and a novella by Peter McBride indicating a high regard and a great confidence in the product by RAINBIRD. I tend to go along with this confidence, as this package, even at nigh on £15, is still superb value for money given the effort to breath new life into these oldies (but extremely goodies).

Presentation is all very well of course, but what of the substance. Well, what can be said from the outset is, if you haven’t played these games before, or if you are thinking of looking into adventuring but don’t know where to start, then this trilogy can provide an insight into what makes adventuring great. The stories behind each part, the strong and evocative descriptions of each location, and the clever weighting and interlinking of puzzles and objects provide the fuel to set burning even the dullest of imaginations. One offshoot of the games’ notoriety is the ease of discussing the adventure with fellow adventurers, many of whom will have at least tried Colossal, so you can end up in animated conversation - much the same as with Tolkien novels.

The features designed to bring these old masterpieces into line with new advances are most impressive. Most immediately apparent is the type-ahead feature; even while pictures are being drawn, the next move can be made. Enhancements in vocabulary include GET ALL or EVERYTHING, AGAIN and RAM SAVE and EXITS.

The sophistication which these commands can achieve together when they are linked by punctuation (or simply by the word AND), is quite remarkable. The GET ALL/ DROP ALL command can be used with exceptions as in DROP ALL BUT THE LAMP AND SILVER BALL. The command OOPS, which restores the player to the position before the last move on larger machines, is sadly not available on the Spectrum 48K versions!

In addition to the commands to get you back into the game, the programs also give you an option to be resurrected after an untimely death. To obtain a maximum score, and the title of Supreme Adventurer, the player must complete Colossal, Quest, and Dungeon in that order, carrying the score across from one adventure to the next. Each adventure has its own scoring system and objectives, as we shall now see on our tour of the trilogy.

In the first part, Colossal Adventure, the player scores points by finding fabulous treasures and carrying them back to the small brick building at the start. If things are going well, and you reach the Colossal Cavern, then you will score more points for entering it. Bonus points are had by making as little use as possible of the SAVE/ RESTORE options.

Colossal has you cast as the chap who takes pity on a weary traveller who stops by at your local tavern, and then goes on to free the goodly elves imprisoned in the deep dark dungeons at the end of your quest. The traveller is grateful for your helping him avoid the bandits who would have his money, but instead of proffering you some of his new found wealth