Reviews

A Trick of the Tale is a bit of an unknown title really. Not many people seem to have played it as far as I can tell?

Anyway A Trick of the Tale is an insanely difficult Manic Miner clone in which you control what reminds me of a butler. I don't know if this is the case as the instructions are very very short and don't really seem to give any kind of story?

Sadly the game is not without it's problems, it suffers from some pretty bad sprite flicker, which for an MM clone made in 1986 is pretty much unacceptable, the mechanics on the moving platforms and lifts are certainly questionable, and of course the difficulty is way too high for anybody without the patience of a saint.

I like this game regardless of it's problems but it's definitely not for everybody. Taking these factors into account I can't give it more than a 3, if it was a bit more polished and a little less brutal it may have deserved a 4?

This is just another inferior Manic Miner clone with a crap setup and an insanely high difficulty. I never bother to play any of the Jet Set Willy copies but playing games like this make me want to, because I know I'll get more thrills from them compared to this.

Nice presentation but too complicated for my taste . . . ! ! !

1,5 out of 5 .

1986 Central Solutions (UK)
by Greg Holmes and John Holmes

This is not a bad platform game, but is essentially a Manic Miner clone. It plays well enough, although I found a few, not over the top, bad collision detections, still the movements are smooth, and the overall graphics are kind of nice. I specially like the main character butler/vampire costume. Maybe Miner Willy got bit by the same bat as Dracula, who knows...

by Greg A. Homes, John Holmes

Can a clone be better than the originale? Absolutely yes! Is this game an example of that?
Absolutely not! A Trick of the Tale is your run-of-the-mill Manic Miner copycat, with even the red platforms recalling the first screen of the original, and without any noticeable improvement. It's a little bit difficult too.
Sound is acceptable, and the graphics have cute little sprites. It's better than Mastertronics's Chiller, that's for sure. It's been programmed by Greg A. Holmes, the guy behind some of the classics from Gremlin Graphics [Jack The Nipper, Avenger, Auf Wiedersehen Monty, Footballer of the Year], and it's one of the two games he released through the budget software house Central Solutions, the other being the [better] Podder. Anyway, even this one is not that bad, and it was surely worth its £0.99.
2,5/5

Just like Podder this was done by Greg Holmes in his pre-Gremlin days, and where as Podder wasn't a great game this can only be described as an abysmal Manic Miner game. Can the first screen even be completed? I haven't managed it.