Producer: Beyond
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £5.95
Language: Machine code

Released at the same time as Psytron, Spellbound is in a different class, sadly, a somewhat lower one. Dressed in the guise of dungeons and dragons. Spellbound is actually a 'Q-bert' game of leaping from square to square to change the colours of a 28 step pyramid.

The scenario is that you (a frog in the disguise of a prince - or is it the other way round?) must escape the clutches of the witch Griselda. She (or is it a he?) stands to the left of the pyramid, stirring her/his cauldron. To do this you must hop about on the pyramid and change the colours of the steps without hopping over any edge, or occupying a square occupied by one of Griselda's spell creatures. These appear on the top square at intervals as she throws them out of the cauldron with a flash of lightning. There are 12 levels of increasing difficulty, with more and more spells chasing after you.

COMMENTS

Control keys: O/P left/right upwards, Z/M left/right downwards
Joystick: ZX 2, Kempston, Protek, AGF, Downsway (has key programming option)
Keyboard play: poor
Use of colour: colours used are varied and good, but not always very well used
Graphics: reasonable, but playing characters are poorer
Sound: good
Skill levels: 12
Lives: 3
Originality: based on arcade game, now several versions available

This game didn't get off to a good start - pressing the Protek/AGF joystick option resulted in my being asked to program my joystick, so I had to play with a totally unresponsive keyboard instead, as I couldn't get back to the option menu again without reloading. The witch on the side of the screen is realistic as she stirs her cauldron and throws out spells, but the playing characters are small, undetailed and the choice of colour is appalling - you can hardly see some of them. On some screens the change in colours when you jump on the steps is so slight it hardly shows up at all. As this is a 'Q-bert' type game, where have the essential spinning tops to take you up to the top gone?

At first glance, this "Q-bert" version looks very good, with unusual graphics, a nicely animated witch and muted colours. A lot of sound has also been used, which is nice until you find out that whenever the witch throws a spell out and there is an explosive sort of noise - everything on the pyramid stops dead. Should you be pressing a jump key at the time, the hesitation can make you try pressing it again, with the result that you make two jumps when everything resumes play -and over the edge you may well go. The keyboard responses are the problem with Spellbound, and it makes the game less playable and not very addictive.

The graphics are rather cute, but the game itself is a little on the slow side, and I really feel that with the recent rush of "Q-bert" type games, there are much better versions around than this one. One factor in Spellbound which makes it different, apart from the fairy tale scenario, is the fact that each level is played out against a falling time limit - although be warned - the red segment isn't an indication of imminent death. When you reach the red bit - you're already dead!

PYRAMID FUN

Memory: 48K
Price: £5.95
Joystick: Not specified

Turned into a toad by the spells of Griselda the Necromancer, you must race down a pyramid of steps to escape from the fortress. Every step must be covered before escape is possible. Devils, skulls and ghosts chase you round the pyramid threatening instant death.

This is the Q-bert style arcade format of Spellbound from Beyond Software. You have three lives on each of the twelve levels. The skins of previous lives hang in a spider's web above the playing area and lightning bolts shoot from the cauldron where Griselda sits stirring. Timer and current score are shown beneath the pyramid. The attacking creatures multiply from level to level and your chances get slimmer.

The insert does not specify any joystick simply suggesting that a 'relevant' one be used. Certainly there is no great advantage in a stick as the toad hops rather than glides. And with a stick it is tempting to hold on too long and vanish in a puff of smoke over the edge.

A fine game which will keep pyramid addicts on the edge of their sarcophagi.

PIMAN GETS PAC-MAN TREATMENT

Q*bert copies are beginning to proliferate on the Spectrum in the same way as rip-offs of Pac-Man did twelve months ago.

With no less than three versions to choose from, we thought it was time C&VG told you which one to spend money on.

The original was an arcade game by Gottlieb which introduced the cute but foul-mouthed little character who had to hop from tile to tile on a triangular shaped play area to change the colour of every square. Nasties like Coily, the snake, and a big red bouncing ball tried to stop our long-nosed friend from completing his task.

Ocean's Pogo is the closest to the arcade original with the snake and bouncing ball - though in this version Coily is operating under the assumed name of Hiss.

The slow, looping hop of Q*bert has been faithfully recreated in Pogo and this is also the only version which makes our friend jump off the side of the pyramid when you press the wrong key.

Also hopping onto the bandwagon are Automata with their PiMan Q*bert game - Pi-Balled.

PiMan and Q*bert could almost be brothers with those unmistakable long snouts - a similarity that has not escaped Automata's attention as they include a bar-room scene in the game where the two share a drink.

If you like fast games, then this is the one for you. The PiMan can be made to move very quickly from square to square as he performs his Q*bert impersonation.

Like Pogo, this game features the spinning escape plates at the side of the pyramid which you can jump onto when the going gets really tough.

Spellbound from Beyond is the most original adaptation of the Q*bert theme introducing witches, spells and devils.

Despite the pretty graphics, this is the least playable version of the game. The little yellow devils are difficult to see and the tiles only partially change colour when landed on - making the whole effect less colourful. Spellbound also lacks the escape plates which are an integral part of the original idea.

Best buy. For my money Pogo is the best Q*bert-type game available for the Spectrum - and marks another success for Ocean who are really beginning to make their mark on the games business.

Pogo £5.90 from Boots, Menzies, Woolworth, Pi-Balled from Automata of Portsmouth at £6 and Spellbound from most software shops at £5.95.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys, Sinc, Kemp, AGF, Downsway
FROM: Beyond, £5.95

It's no joke being transformed into a slimy toad, so there's a lot of incentive to succeed in this Q*Bert spin-off.

The wicked old witch who's been messing around with your body chemistry is Griselda the Necromancer. She appears on screen, in hideous detail, to the left of the castle steps which are your escape route. She has a luminous green face, a nasty pointed chin and an evil grin as well as a bubbling cauldron containing the spells she casts onto the steps.

To the right of this 3D pyramid is the web of Manfred, Griselda's pet spider, where you are imprisoned if caught. The whole business makes escaping from Colditz seem child's play.

The game has 12 levels. On the first you begin at the top and have to colour all the steps, as in Q*Bert. Chasing after you are horned, yellow devils who move far too quickly for comfort. Practice and a few prayers should see you through this - it's the next level that'll have you tearing your hair out.

Here the devils are supported by a gangling skeleton whose skull still seems to contain a number of brain cells. He (or she - it's difficult to sex a skeleton) will chase you into a corner if you're not very careful.

And now I have a confession to make; I couldn't get any further. Believe me, I tried. I suppose I'll just have to learn to love life as a toad.

Spellbound is a wonderfully innovative development of the Q*Bert theme with excellent graphics. It boggles the mind to think what Griselda's got cooking in her pot for the higher levels.