Producer: Tartan
Retail Price: £2.95
Author: Tartan

There's something about the names of these two programs, sold by mail order on one cassette, which suggests a certain familiarity even before you load up. To borrow a Monty Pythonism, they're good 'woody' words in the sphere of adventure game names. As it turns out, it isn't just the names that have a familiar ring to them - the programs have a look similar to Subsunk, or Seabase Delta, or both!

Given the success of those programs, and the ever-popularity of the themes of shipwreck and eerie castles, I could quite go along with those who think these programs are rather good. The graphics, as ever, are simple, but they aren't so crude as to be irritating (in fact they are very similar in style to Seabase Delta). The character set is distinctive and chunky and rates very highly on the readability scale. The beep which accompanies ENTER is also particularly reminiscent of Seabase Delta.

The story sets you up on the ship (you're taking a well-earned holiday) and dumps you off on an island (there is a fire down below and you are forced to abandon ship). Wandering around the ship is much as you'd expect, with the port on your left and the sherry on your right, and all things shipshape and nautical. There's a certain symmetry to this shipshapedness, with parallel decks running the length of the vessel separated by distractions such as a shop, writing room, cardroom, bar and bathing pool. A lifeboat and lifebelts are an early insight into your predicament, but for now you concern yourself with getting past the steward who bars the way to the lounge, gaining access to the bridge (for which you need a permit), and how to buy things in the shop and elsewhere when your character doesn't seem to have any spending money.

One aspect of this game which worries me a little is its insistence on rather specific solutions to certain problems. Most especially in the tight spots, I think the program could have allowed a greater number of word options without which many of the problems are going to have people really stumped. Anyway, on to the flip side to see if it is as much fun.

As with Shipwreck, Castle Eerie puts up the instructions on screen first, with a timely siren to warn you to stop the tape. In this game you play Charlie hones, an extra-special agent working for a secret government department dealing with unsolved mysteries. You are certified, to carry a gun that is, and your assignment has you travelling to investigate a mysterious castle on the north Scottish coast. The castle should have been empty ever since the owner died in an odd manner some years ago, but dimly-lit figures have been seen at the windows at night, and strange sounds have been heard coming from the castle. Any who have been foolish enough to investigate in the past have never returned, so it is with some trepidation that you try to round up those responsible for this mystery.

Following a rather good loading screen, you begin with a torch, a gun, but only one bullet as you have absent-mindedly left your ammunition behind. The opening picture has some atmosphere about it, showing the gateway to the castle with the shading used to enforce the image of light thrown from one side. Trying to enter the castle reveals the obvious ('The door's closed!'), so the only direction left open to you is west to a rather broken-down hut. This then leads onto quite a number of locations which have one or two items apiece, once again very similar to Shipwreck. Some items are immediately accessible, while others can't even be examined.

Once settled into the run of things you discover some nice touches. Picking up the ladder, you quite rightly find out you can'I just cart it everywhere, whilst on a more frivolous theme, flashing lights and creaking door sounds keep the senses amused. As with Shipwreck, there are times when the vocabulary needs to be very specific, but given that the solutions, once found, are logical, this isn't such a damning criticism.

Shipwreck and Castle Eerie are rather entertaining adventures. They look smart and have engaging themes. I particularly liked Castle Eerie, whose problems are especially fun to solve. Programs for both amateur and wizened adventurers alike. Tartan Software can be contacted at 61 Bailif Norrif Crescent, Montrose, Angus DD10 9DT.

Difficulty: no brick walls, but the vocabulary can be exacting
Graphics: vary, but some aren't too bad at all
Presentation: very attractive, clean cut look
Input facility: verb/noun
Response: Quill (very fast), graphics slower

No round-up would be complete without at least one game from Tartan Software, who continue to churn them out but thankfully without any loss of quality. In fact Castle Eeerie/Shipwreck was churned out some time ago, but as the Ed still hasn't allowed me to take over the whole magazine it's had to queue up with others for a mention.

Shipwreck's the cheerful tale of you having your holiday of a lifetime ruined when a fire breaks out below decks in the luxury cruiser you're sailing on in the South Pacific. It's very professionally presented, but slightly marred for me by the way that life on board ship continues as normal despite the fact that fire is raging and your task is to get off the ship in one piece. If you do that, you find yourself on an island... can you escape? Planning ahead means that you buy a map from the shop and need to forge a permit to get onto the bridge to note the ship's position, though having discovered the Captain's name it's no wonder the ship's going down! Plenty more for you to do within a given number of moves, and if you accept the strange logic of the game it's a good solid adventure if not quite as imaginative as some on these pages.

On t'other side of t'tape is Castle Eeerie, where your name is Charlie Jones and you've been certified. Well, certified to carry a gun anyway, as you're a special agent. Your assignment is to investigate Castle Eeerie, a strange building somewhere in Scotland where mysterious figures have been seen at dimly lit windows at night and strange sounds have been heard coming from within. Sounds like Tartan Software's Tom FYost at another late night adventure session. Instead it's the setting for another reliable adventure - nothing exceptional but with two games on one tape for £2.95, worth investigating.

Label: Tartan Soft, 61 Barlie Norrie Crescent, Montrose, Angus, DD10 9DT
Author: Tom Frost
Price: £2.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Gary Rook

Long ago, when the world of adventure games was young, there was a trilogy of adventures called the Ket Trilogy.

And lo, Incentive Software did promise great rewards to the first being to solve all three: many tried, but none didst succeed, and there was a wailing and a gnashing of teeth. Until, from the frozen lands to the north there came a hero, Tom Frost by name, who didst vanquish the trials of Ket: and he didst bear away the sacred video recorder unto his homeland...

And if you think that little excursion into the mists of history isn't relevant, yah boo sucks to you because it is. The two adventures reviewed here - Castle Eerie and Shipwreck - both on one tape - have been written by that same Tom Frost and, judging from what I've been able to see of them so far that wily Scot hasn't lost the touch that made him arguably one of the country's greatest adventurers.

Both programs were written with the Quill, Patch and Illustrator, which Tom acknowledges, and the package is priced accordingly.

Castle Eerie casts you as a sort of James Bond. Your task: to penetrate the defences of the aptly named Castle Eerie, somewhere in the wilds of Scotland, find out who is causing strange lights and noises, escape with whatever evidence you can find, and get back to civilisation and call in the police sort out the villains.

You begin outside the castle door. It's locked, so you have to find an alternative way in.

Once inside, be careful. There are various nasty little traps which will bring armed guards down upon you like the proverbial Assyrians, and that will be the end of your investigative career. Don't open the door unless you've done something about the alarm; and don't fiddle around with the grandfather clock.

Apart from that, you have other problems facing you, some more difficult than others, but all challenging and interesting.

In Shipwreck, you have a rather different plot. You've saved all your money and sent yourself for a nice long restful South Pacific cruise. It's a beautiful sunny day and the small fire in the engine room is absolutely nothing to worry about... or is it?

Well, yes, it is actually. And if you don't work out what to do pretty soon, you're going to find yourself doing the dog paddle in a shark infested ocean.

You can't get into the life boat. You can't get hold of a life belt. You can't go on to the bridge without a signed permit, and where can you get one of those? The ship's shop sells maps, but you don't have any money, which means that you can't have a stiff one at the bar either. And for some reason, the steward refuses to let you into the lounge or the dining room. Perhaps you're not a first class passenger? Or - horrors - maybe you need a tie. Watch out for the swimming pool - otherwise you hit your head and end up in the sick bay; not the right place to be if the ship is about to go down. Then again, perhaps it is - what could that nurse do for you?

Both programs are excellent examples of good old fashioned adventure writing. No frills, just solid problems tied together with a decent plot. The graphics are more than adequate, although I got a bit tired of the deck scenes in Shipwreck - one promenade deck looks very much like another.

SUPPLIER: Tartan Software
PRICE: £2.95
MACHINE: Spectrum 48K

As the title implies, with this cassette for the Spectrum. you receive two adventures instead of one. Both games have graphics for the majority of locations along with the usual game save and restore features.

As the name suggests, Castle Eerie is set inside a seemingly deserted run down castle, which is apparently haunted and creating quite a scare among the local inhabitants. As special agent Charlie Jones, (from the loading instructions you appear to he a right charlie as well!) you are assigned to find out what is happening inside the castle.

Being a right charlie means you turn up in the castle grounds with a gun containing only one bullet. One bullet means only one chance, so you must make the most of your single opportunity.

After figuring out a way into the castle, the fun really begins. It doesn't take long to realize that a gang of criminals are using the castle for their purposes, but exactly what for is not yet apparent. Between dodging the forever present guards, you must get around the castle, making use of some of the objects to help you cross between rooms which are inaccessible due to decay after years of neglect.

Every nook and cranny must be explored and searched and because the castle is so large that's an awful lot of places. A well constructed map will help a lot at this stage. Not only that, but as you move towards the centre of the criminal operations, you must contend with electronic surveillance devices designed to trap intruders like yourself.

Once you have figured out what is going on in this very unusual castle, it's time to make your findings known and contact the outside world. From now on, it's a race against time as the villains try to dispose of you at the final hurdle.

Shipwreck follows a nautical theme in which you must first plan your own survival by making it safely from a passenger cruiser which is about to sink, to a desert island. Once there (providing you make it that far) you must find the items necessary to bring about your rescue.

The story unfolds on board ship where an announcement is made that there is a small fire in the engine room, although at this stage there is no cause for concern. Being a rather shrewd person, you realize that all may not be well, so you plan your safe escape from the liner.

I soon found that once more it pays to be friendly, and tipping a bartender pays its own rewards. The purchase of a map of the surrounding ocean helps a lot, so does finding the ship's current position at sea.

Once free of the ship, and with the aid of a little navigation, you find yourself washed up on the sandy beach of a nearby island. That's where the fun really begins. Finding your way around the ship was had enough, but on the island... well there's lots of places where trouble abounds for the novice castaway.