Producer: The Power House
Retail Price: £1.99
Author: John Keneally

Treading the Dervish path to enlightenment involves a great deal of magic and mystique. The Power House provides the player with a chance to test magical skills as he battles through eight exhausting levels in an attempt to reach the Upward Path.

The quest takes place across a landscape of labyrinthine walls and vegetation. Choosing Explore mode allows a survey of the environment with no loss of energy, prior to embarking in Normal mode. The Dervish path is followed in the company of a series of hostile characters who attempt to hinder progress and drain the player's energy by bodily obstruction.

These are combatted by three types of weapon (light, water and brimstone) which have varying effects on different creatures. pells, keys and potions are also collected to further the quest.

Weapon and spell supplies can be replenished at Aims Houses, represented by a diamond symbol. Entering one of these sees a cursor pass at random below a series of options, and pressing fire allows the selection of necessary supplies.

A map can be called up to show current position, while status displays indicate the type and amount of weapons left.

COMMENTS

Joysticks: none
Graphics: close inspection of the characters reveals little detail and flickery animation
Sound: simple tune with similar spot effects

Treading the Dervish path, collecting spells and choosing weapons from a random selection - the gameplay is very similar to Firebird's Druid (a SMASH just over a year ago). There, however, the similarity ends. Uninspiring graphics give little incentive to explore: one landscape of scribbled flowers is much like another and soon begins to hurt your eyes. The Dervish hero spinning round and round like a top (similar to the Warner Brothers cartoon character) incites no sympathy at all. Unless you choose the Explore option, your energy depletes very rapidly; considering the lack of playability, this is probably a blessing in disguise.
KATI

Graphically, Dervish may look quite appealing from a distance (say five miles), but when each character is examined closely it reveals itself to be crudely drawn, out of proportion and with flickery animation. The sound is no better, limiting itself to a simple tune with very few spot effects - most unimpressive. I will, however, compliment the programmer on the smooth scrolling - it may only be half the screen, but it's well done. You can forget any addictive qualities, however - it has none. It does have an Explore mode, though, allowing you to see most of the game without being any good at it! The whole product is very disappointing; I wish this was an exception to The Power House's rule - sadly it's not.
PAUL

BUDGET BONANZA

What we got? Loadsacheapies! And we got Tony Worrall to review 'em. Take it away, Wozza!

Power House
£1.99
Reviewer: Tony Worrall

Dervish is another in the long line of grotty games from budgeteers Power House. It seems to have discovered some kind of software time machine - digging up the decayed remains of five-year-old game styles, and trying to pass them off as new and exciting concepts. Not going to work chaps!

The maze game comes under attack here. Explore bland and badly drawn pathways in the search for 'magic and mysticism'. The only mystery here is why on earth release such tosh? The sound is feeble and colour clash unbearable. Even at £1.99 this is not very good value. Take my advice and leave it on the shelf. Double yeuk!

Label: Power House
Author: John Keneally
Price: £1.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tamara Howard

Transcend the 8 levels of awareness and reach the upward path, a higher level of understanding and fulfilment...

This is not a book about an obscure religious sect, but, in fact, it's the synopsis of Dervish. Dervish requires you to assume the persona of a little spinning man (presumably a 'whirling' dervish) and trundle around the aforementioned 8 levels of awareness, pulping the various demons which inhabit them. The End.

Oh all right, there's just a little bit more to say about the game, and here it comes. The graphics are nasty and blocky, your character appears to be a spinning police cone with arms, and he's perpetually followed by a a nasty yellow jacket, which seems to be some sort of servant. The game seems to have no purpose whatsoever.

The graphics are poor, the gameplay's incomprehensible and I object to being followed by a yellow Mandarin jacket. OK?