Producer: New Generation
Memory Required: 48K
Recommended Retail Price: £5.95
Language: machine code

This is a rather clever form of maze game in which you hear your chaser more than you see him or it. The hero of the piece is yourself, of course, and your adversary is a madly cloning Bogul. You find yourself in the corridors of Genon, a complex of concentric circles with the evil computer of Genon at its centre. Each circular corridor has many doors which open or shut by sliding down from the roof, and the corridors themselves are linked at intervals by similar sliding doors.

The object of the game is to thread your way through the complex, find the computer and then break a secret code which will destroy it. Each of the doors is given a three figure code which, if punched in, will either open or shut the door. As you start some of the doors are open and some shut. Your adversary, Bogul, is strong in ESP and can close the doors ahead of you and open them behind in an effort to catch up with you. He also clones himself as time goes by.

The screen display is in 3D, showing the corridors radiating away from you, a clear green floor, white ceiling and alternating red and yellow corridors gives a very solid impression of a real building. New Generation provide a numeric overlay for the keyboard which is used in the game for code breaking. Above the display and to either side it says 'Next Door Code 217' or, as your ESP level drops, more likely, 'Next Door Code ???'. When Bogul catches up with you the screen flashes and some of your ESP level fades. When it's right out, you've had it.

COMMENTS

Keyboard positions: Cursor keys for movement and 9 keys used in conjunction with an overlay provided.
Joystick option: Kempston, AGF or Protek
Keyboard play: reasonable
Use of colour very good
Graphics: effective 3D
Sound: excellent
Skill levels: 3
Lives: depends on falling ESP rate

The most imaginative touch in this game is the sound of Bogul's footsteps echoing through the corridors as he chases after you. After a while of playing it screws the tension up unbearably, making you slip on the keyboard and fumble the code numbers something terrible! If you happen to be facing in the right direction you actually see the horrid little black thing come stumping up the corridor to get you. The graphics are quite good and it's a simple idea for a game, but one which works very well. I haven't got to the computer yet, but there is a practice mode for code breaking.

Very good and effective sound on this game, the footsteps tracking you, doors opening and slamming shut. The practice mode for code breaking is useful, although if you select it and then fail to understand how the system operates, you're trapped in the mode for ever! I was bit confused even though it works on the Mastermind idea of giving you black dots for right numbers and more black dots for numbers in the right sequence etc. Getting through the corridor doors is more difficult in the end since doors ahead and to the sides all run in numeric sequences. It's okay when you're being told what the code is, but as your ESP slips away you have to be pretty good at following complex sequences or very good at code breaking. An unusual game and more exciting than I thought it was going to be when I started playing it.

If you like 3D maze games, then you'll probably like Genon - it certainly isn't in the normal run of such games. I found it rather confusing - you do have to have some sort of head for numbers to play it well. The graphics are simply designed and very good and the sound is terrific. I would think it addictive, even though it didn't really grab me over much.

Producer: New Generation, 48K
5.95 (1)

A 3D Maze game which demands 'Master Code' skills and numeric sequence recognition from the player. Deceptive in that it seems very ordinary at first but rapidly becomes unstoppable. Basically you must thread your way through the concentric ciruclar maze to find the central control room for the evil computer of Genon and destroy it. Doors cut the corridors into segments and connect between adjacent corridors. These are opened and shut by the computer and you can open them by punching in the correct code (each set of doors has its own numeric sequence). With your ESP at high level the screen displays the next doors code, but there's a nasty monster called Bogul chasing you. Each time he bogulises you, your ESP goes down and more doors have blanks which you must work out before the door opens or shuts for you. The ingenious touch lies in the excellent sound track of Bogul's thudding footsteps as he chases up behind you - turn around and you'll see him. Neat, solid graphics and unusually playable. Cursor keys for movement in conjunction with 9 keys (used with an overlay) for code breaking. Joystick: Kempston, AGF or Protek. Overall CRASH rating 72%, excellent value for money if you enjoy a bit of figuring. M/C.

Producer: New Generation, 48K
5.95 (1)

A 3D Maze game which demands 'Master Code' skills and numeric sequence recognition from the player. Deceptive in that it seems very ordinary at first but rapidly becomes unstoppable. Basically you must thread your way through the concentric ciruclar maze to find the central control room for the evil computer of Genon and destroy it. Doors cut the corridors into segments and connect between adjacent corridors. These are opened and shut by the computer and you can open them by punching in the correct code (each set of doors has its own numeric sequence). With your ESP at high level the screen displays the next doors code, but there's a nasty monster called Bogul chasing you. Each time he bogulises you, your ESP goes down and more doors have blanks which you must work out before the door opens or shuts for you. The ingenious touch lies in the excellent sound track of Bogul's thudding footsteps as he chases up behind you - turn around and you'll see him. Neat, solid graphics and unusually playable. Cursor keys for movement in conjunction with 9 keys (used with an overlay) for code breaking. Joystick: Kempston, AGF or Protek. Overall CRASH rating 72%, excellent value for money if you enjoy a bit of figuring. M/C.

CORRIDORS OF 3-D POWER

The circular corridors of the computer installation based on Genon hide a dark and deadly secret. They are inhabited by a creature called Bogul. The creature and its cloned counterparts will try their best to stop you reaching the main computer, cracking the secret code and returning to the outside world before the base explodes.

Corridors of Genon, for the 48K Spectrum, is in a long line of 3D games from Malcolm Evans and New Generation. It is set in the usual maze but the unusual thing is that the corridors are circular. That effect works well and is added to by the sliding doors which lower from the ceiling to block your way. Depending on the level at which you are playing you will be given either the pass number of the door to make it open or you will not.

The most difficult part of the maze is the centre, at corridor 30, where doors are closing all the time, pass codes are hidden, and you can hear Bogul's footsteps getting nearer.

When finally you beat corridor 30 you will be introduced to the computer. In that room you have to guess the destruct sequence code of the computer. That is such an important part of the process that when the program is first loaded, and before a new game begins, you will be asked if you want decoding practice.

Once you have cleared the code the computer will tell you that all is well but that Bogul has multiplied and there are then several of the trumpet-nosed creatures wandering the maze. Before the game ends you must pass all of them and get out of the maze.

Corridors of Genon is an excellent 3D game from a master of 3D techniques. We cannot recommend it too highly. It costs £5.95 and can be obtained from New Generation, Freepost, Bath, BA2 4TD.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
JOYSTICK: Optional
CATEGORY: Strategy
SUPPLIER: New Generation Software
PRICE: £5.95

The object of the game is to penetrate a 3D-corridor circular maze, break the code of the Genon computer - also known as the Brain - and escape from the maze with your life.

You are presented with a 3D view of the maze, with doors to your left and right, and a perspective view of the circular corridor ahead.

Progress through the maze is hindered by two things.

First, the Brain opens and closes doors to slow you down, and second, a 'bogul' roams the maze looking for you. A bogul is a Pacman-like creature with a big nose who is there to protect the Brain.

Your only aid is your ESP, which allows you to find the door codes. But your ESP power fades as you approach the core, and each time you are caught and bogulized.

If you manage to reach corridor 31, you are confronted with the Genon computer and must break the code as practised. Time is critical, and while you are frantically tapping out numbers, the bogul is cloning itself to make your escape harder.

On your breaking the code, the computer is destroyed, but not before it revitalizes your ESP by giving you the knowledge of the universe.

The 3D graphics are up to New Generation's usual, high standard and the sound is also very well used.

But I would say that the game lacks the sort of variation which has made games like Arcadia and Manic Miner such big hits.

A 3D arcade maze game with a novel twist: the maze is circular. You must get through a series of doors some of which can only be opened by the correct number code. Once past the doors you enter the main computer room to deactivate the machine which will destroy the complex.

The only other little problem is Bogul. This quaint-sounding creature will drain the psi energy from any player that it encounters. Bogul will clone itself and you will have many of them to avoid on the return journey.

The game combines the best elements of strategy and arcade action.

Position 21/50