The best Speccy game by Pandora: discussion

[PeteProdge]

As you know, I like to start these week-long discussion threads on games from a software brand, to ensure we have the correct and original releases listed in the week-long poll that gets set up later on.

This is an unusual situation, in that I'm not sure whether we should have a poll on the best Speccy game by Pandora - a software brand from Interceptor Micros (more famous for the budget outlet Players).

You see, there are only two titles from Pandora for the ZX Spectrum.

"But surely," you cry, "you've run polls before where there were only two games".

Yep, I definitely have, such as the ones for Encore and MasterVision.

However, there's a conundrum here, as one of the two Pandora games doesn't actually exist as a proper full release. I'm talking about Dominion (aka Dominion: Dawn Of New Eden). There was a playable demo of it released on the covertape for Your Sinclair issue 66. And that's it. Other than that scrap of code, the full game is MIA. Never released.

The other game, which cropped up in my A-Z of classic Speccy games polls, is Into The Eagle's Nest (which won the 'I' round) - a formidable Gauntlet-style battler, themed around WW2.

Well, the main question is - can I put up a playable demo against a full game? Is that really fair?

[WIWC]

No?

[Hank Scorpio]

No you can't really vote for a game based on just a demo version. After all, the proper release may have been scrapped for being complete cack.

[PeteProdge]

No you can't really vote for a game based on just a demo version. After all, the proper release may have been scrapped for being complete cack.

You know what, I think it is a bit off to vote for a playable demo when it's not the full game.

From what I'm seeing based on the total history of everything to do with Interceptor/Players, it looks like the business was in a really bad way financially by 1991. They had to set up a new company (Fun Factory) to stay afloat and do games in the 16-bit era, but that wasn't enough.

I'm leaning towards NOT doing this as a poll.

[PeteProdge]

I'm leaning towards NOT doing this as a poll.

Concluded that I WON'T be doing this as a poll. I suspect Into The Eagle's Nest would have easily walked away as a winner if I did carry it out, but hey, comparing a playable demo to a full game, is a bit like comparing a single to an album. Not really fair.