Producer: Activision
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £7.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Matt Hubbard

Zenji is a rather difficult game to describe, and even Activision themselves prefer to let the inlay slip into esoteric eastern mysticism! The object of Zenji, it says, is to connect all Elements to the Source. But, in playing the game, it becomes dear that the approach required is a kind of letting go, rather than planning ahead.

So what is Zenji? Well it is a kind of computer puzzle, yet it seems to have been programmed in such a way that the obvious is excluded. There seems to be no, 'Ah got it!' stage in playing the game, whereby you suddenly see the point and then know how to go about it. Each screen provides a maze of increasing size and complexity with each maze intersection being contained within a red or green gate. At the start some pathways are coloured yellow and some blue. You are a small revolving face, and the object is to make all the paths yellow. This is done by moving to an intersection and revolving the gate. This has the effect of perhaps cutting you off from the path you have just traced, whilst opening other connections and turning a new section yellow. By moving around thus, it is possible to find the right gates in the right combination to make all the maze paths turn yellow.

Bonus scores are added on (you score each time you make a right connection) if you connect up a section of path to the main part which contains a flashing number, which decreases each second after it appears. You are also pursued by flames of desire, more of them as you progress. These must by either avoided by running away, or blocked off by the fortuitous revolving of a gate which may close off their path to you. To make matters even worse there is a very strict time limit imposed. If you succeed, then you move onto a bigger maze, whereas failure to connect up in time results in being returned to the same maze for another try .

COMMENTS

Control keys: Z/W up/down, O/P left /right, Z to turn
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, Protek, AGF
Keyboard play: good positions and responsive
Use of colour: very good, very colourful
Graphics: good, smooth and fast although simple
Sound: simple but continuous
Skill levels: progressive difficulty, 8 entry points
Lives: 3
Special features: 2-player games

Zenji is an odd combination of straightforward puzzle game and oriental mantra. I don't know whether it's fair to call it addictiveness that kept me playing, or whether it was hypnotism! The game certainly has something though. My main worry as far as Activision is concerned, is that lots of people flicking through the inlay card will be put off the game because is says so little. That may well be the point, but it can't help sales surely? All I can say is that it's well worth spending some time getting the hang of the game. The graphics are super-neat, especially the revolving effect. I also like 'you,' really having a ball with a face on either side and you can see the details of both faces as it revolves, left and right as well as up and over. I don't know whether I could recommend this game because it's so hard to explain and someone might well buy it and hate it - all I know is that I enjoyed it totally - very absorbing.

It had to happen sometime - a game in which you must rely on intuition, sensing, letting go and all the usual psychic powers bit to compete. Well I gave it a go and after losing several times I still hadn't go a clue. Then after completing the path several times, I still hadn't got a clue. Maybe I'm some sort of emotionless zombie or android or something, but I sure couldn't let go and 'feel' the way. I don't think I'm addicted - but it's different. I hope it's me and this not a case of the King's new clothes - remember the invisible ones?

At first I couldn't play this game at all - what was the idea I said? After about 15 minutes the idea became apparent - it was a simple idea, just the fact that it was mind-bending and overwhelming made it damned difficult. On the inlay card it says, "Players can feel their way through the maze and use tactics that combine intuition with technical skill." I didn't understand that at first, but now I appreciate this statement after playing the game for a couple of hours. The graphics, colour and sound have been used very well. I cannot complain at all. Perfect! After about 2 hours I'm just getting into this mind-bending game, a totally addictive, playable one that is worth every penny. Only your mind will win this game, not just fast reactions. Brill!

REMAKE REMODEL

Those cheapie re-releases, sifted and sorted by Marcus Berkmann.

Yup, games these days are like cats - they have about nine lives. First we see them on full price labels, then they reappear on various compilations, then they're out again as cheapies. In the past YS hasn't taken an awful lot of notice, but there are so many now, we just can't ignore 'em. So here's the first Remake Remodel, and the first person to write in and tell us what that reference is, wins three cheapies!

Firebird
£1.99

A real rave from the grave, this one. Zenji's the first of a series of old Activision games to reappear on the Firebird Silver label. It's a puzzle, in which you have to change the colour of a network of tubes by rotating the power supply and so changing the pattern. It's quite clever, but unlike the Boulderdash games it hasn't survived well, and now looks very shoddy indeed - white border, bog standard Speccy typescript and graphics out of the Jurassic age. Scarcely even worth the cost of the blank tape.

Dave: Zenji is the latest in a long line of computerised puzzles and it comes complete with the obligatory mish-mash of philosophical bits and pieces that are traditionally used to jazz up this type of program.

In order to achieve 'Zenji' you must rotate the maze 'elements' (straight lines, corner pieces and 4T' shapes) so that they all join up with a particular clement known as the 'source'. Rotation is achieved by moving your face-shaped player to the centre of the element you wish to turn and pressing a special key (or the joystick button J along with a rotation key. In normal use the rotation keys move you left and right, with two more keys for up and down. There's a time limit for the completion of each maze (which get bigger as the game progresses) and 'Flames of Desire' appear which follow you around and quite rightly provoke fatal consequences if touched.

Zenji will appeal mostly to puzzle enthusiasts but on the higher levels it becomes quite a test of arcade skill. As the cassette sleeve says, you have to 'let go' and leave your fingers to do the work on their own. 3/5 MISS

Ross: Quite an intriguing little mind-twister with reasonable graphics and easy-to understand instructions. However, that's not saying it's easy to play. If you like 'thinking' games, then this could be worth a look. 2/5 MISS

Roger: The 'Flames Of Desire' are not a threat I learnt to fancy much but that's not because I suffer 'illusions'... Lust for success and puzzling enlightenment failed to overcome my lack of skill, Oh Grey One... 4/5 HIT

AT ONE WITH THE ELEMENTS

Memory: 48K
Price: £7.99
Joystick: Programmable, Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor

Zenji is a strange game but one which has become a cult in the United States. It is an Activision import which has been hurriedly translated to the Spectrum.

In order to become a master you must rely on your intuition to feel the forces flowing through the game's maze. Your playing piece is a face which revolves as you move the joystick or the keypad defined on the keyboard.

It starts at a central element and you must move it round the corridors and connect it to other elements which lie at the nodes of the corridors. If you hit a connection then a power wave is started between the original and new element and a link established. Part of the maze lights up with the radiance that those sources give off.

The higher levels of the game involves mazes which fill the whole screen and creatures which will only be too happy to feed on the energy that propels your character. If you bump into one then you will lose a life.

You will find that you will get better at the game and reach the higher levels but in Zenji experience is gained through insight and not mental reasoning. There is a way to beat the game at all its levels using logic but that spoils the excitement and we do not intend to reveal the answer.

Ultimately, Zenji is a test for two players. When you have enough mastery over the mazes then you should find a friend to pit your wits against.

Label: Firebird
Author: Matt Hubbard
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Deniz Ahmet

Zenji first appeared on our Spectrum three years ago, with a price tag of £7.99 from Activision. Now it's being re-released under Firebird at £1.99. You'll need to use the old brain cells for this one - it's a maze game with a difference: you make it up as you go.

Your playing piece is a revolving face which smoothly glides along the various pathways and your objective is to direct Zenji through the circuits of Delta-B and connect up the different pathways to the central power source. Not simple. For a start a clock slowly ticks away the time remaining before the reactor blows. Small flames rush around the pathways in an attempt to fry you to ashes. And on later levels these nasty little things try to vaporise you with missiles.

The graphics aren't really that hot, but don't let this put you off. The animation is actually very well done, colour is used nicely, and there is even a strange twinkly kind of tune which plays throughout which adds to the atmosphere considerably.

MACHINE: Spectrum
CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc, Curs
FROM: Activision, £9.99

To tell the absolute truth when I first loaded this game I could make neither head nor tail of it. The aim is to fill a maze with yellow by rotating the various elements.

As you can see, this does not lend itself easily to description and the copywriter, to avoid this problem, has filled the tape inlay card with a load of pseudo-philosophical hokum. The instructions are full of words like 'experience', 'desire' and intuition in a desperate attempt to create an illusion of oriental mystique. In fact the game is simply a puzzle to be solved in real time.

You move your man around and when you reach a junction you can rotate that section left or right. If you make a useful connection the pieces you have connected with turn yellow. Eventually you will turn the whole network yellow and you then progress to a higher level with a larger maze and the added disadvantage of having the flames of desire chasing you. Should you make contact with these you will 'lose your head' and have to start again.

'Zenji is like life' claim Activision. But then they also say: 'There is no conquest. There is no planning. Use the mind differently.' Well I'm not going to argue with their philosophy but I am dubious as to how well this game is likely to sell. Its not easy to get into and even when you have figured out what to do it's not exactly the most addictive game you'll play.

On the plus side the graphics are good and chunky and the sound though not excessively used, is nonetheless effective. Control is fairly good but can be a little sticky at times.

If you like computerized puzzles, Zenji may appeal to you, it's certainly one of the best, but unfortunately this isn't my cup of Darjeeling.

In the words of my brother, 'How do you shoot?'

The strange and mystic writings and the warning to trust your intuition on the cassette inlay made me a bit sceptical about the content of this game. But, they are right to get to grips with this one you must take heed of the warnings and use your intuition.

The graphics are pretty unimaginative and there is no sound to speak of. The overall presentation is rather scruffy and looks as though Activision have rushed it out, but Zenji is still very good, and an excellent puzzle.

With the release of Beyond's Ankh it looks as though we may be entering the era of the arcade-puzzle and if so Zenji will be one of the top sellers. A worthy addition to anyone's software collection and especially those with quick fingers and logical minds.

MARTYN SMITH

To begin with I found Zenji horribly frustrating - now I know it's horribly addictive.

You compete against yourself, perhaps that is what makes it so enthralling. I guarantee that even if you hate puzzles, this one will have you hooked; but remember, 'hang loose'.

STEVE SPITTLE

When working with computers for some time you tend to end up like Spock, everything you do is done by logic. Well here is a game where you have to use your intuition instead.

Zenji is a maze of passages, but the maze is broken into separate pieces. The idea of the game is to connect the pieces and complete the maze.

This is done by moving a cursor from piece to piece and turning them around till they all connect. Doesn't sound much fun does it? I have to admit when I first played the game I thought it to be a load of rubbish I was getting nowhere.

I was trying to do it logically, so I tried again and went by my instinct and got on really well (could this be the power of Zenji?).

You have a choice of joysticks you can use which is needed as you play this game against the clock. Points can be gained whenever you make a complete connection.

The first maze is small but as you progress the maze increases in size, and in the later stages you are chased about by small flames which burn you up.

Although a simple game I found that I couldn't put it down which is a sign of a good game.