Producer: Visions
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code

There have been a number of 3D Noughts and Crosses games for the Spectrum and now Visions have theirs out. The name of the program is justified by an extraordinarily long scenario, all about how super snails (well it is a sort of grid game) grew up aeons ago in a galaxy far, far away and mutated into super-thinkers who hated war. Then they had a bit of bother with those war-like Vigans (you know the type, all mouth and nuclear weapons) and they ended up settling the business by making the Vigans do this puzzle thing and somehow that got handed down to earth. Hence the name of the super snails were from Arcturus, hence the name of the game).

There is a very complex menu which must be used to play the game. This is displayed at the top and bottom right hand corners. A skill level from 0 to 9 may be selected, Mode allows you to select between defensive, attacking or neutral play, the sound may be on or off, printer on or off and the Evaluation on or off. The game itself is played on four boards of 4 x 4 squares stacked one above the other in perspective with a number axis horizontally and a lettered axis vertically. Players may move a flashing cursor onto any unoccupied square and ENTER the move. It is possible to play one player versus the computer, player versus player or the computer versus the computer. A timer can be set to limit time on moves or games.

COMMENTS

Control keys: numerous for setting up options, cursors and ENTER for playing
Joystick: AGF, Protek, cursor clip on
Keyboard play: responsive
Colour: good
Graphics: good
Sound: useful
Skill levels: 9

This is a very slick looking program. Others I have seen along similar lines tend to look very difficult to play, but the perspective stacks of four boards do make the 3D thinking process quite easy - well, quite may be an exaggeration. It's still a difficult game with tons of subtlety.

If you enjoy puzzles you'll no doubt enjoy Arcturus. The only serious problem I found with it was the difficulty of getting to play a game. There seem to be so many options and stages to go through to start one or get back for another and the inlay and onscreen instructions don't actually help. Also, I don't really know why they wrote an entire novel to explain why the game got its name. There are 22 pages of written history, all very interesting but not very relevant. I would have preferred to do without it and have them charge a pound less for the game.

Apart from the confusion arising from all the instructions and getting a game going, it nowhere mentions that your cursor is actually moved with the cursor keys. Perhaps they thought that would be obvious, but it only adds to the general sense of confusion at the start. Once going, the very game idea is compelling and easy to play - very hard to win against the computer. Perhaps the flashing cursor block could have been a bit more obvious, it tends to disappear when it moves about.

A 3D noughts and crosses game, where the plot is to enslave the free world by making us devote all our incredible mental resources to solving Arcturun's ultimate mental challenge.

Jon: The idea behind this game isn't bad, but it's certainly not new. Also the representation of the supposedly 3D grid is very poor. The whole thing could have been made better if the colours had been more thoughtfully selected. 3/10

Simon: Something that should appeal to anyone who likes mind games, and made better by its fast response time, and reasonable use of colour. 4/10

Ian: The cubes are poorly represented, and the choice of colours is very disappointing. This game's best feature is its response time but, to be honest, your time would be better rewarded with pencil and paper. 4/10

Producer: Visions, 48K
£6.95 (3)

An awful lot of memory and effort go into the long-winded and entirely irrelevant history of this games name, but it turns out to be none other than a 3D noughts and crosses played on 4 x 4 grids, four of which are stacked one on top of the other. A winning line is a straight one up or across a grid or vertically through the grids, diagonals included. Two players may oppose each other, one player play the computer, or you can have the computer play against itself. The program is a slick one, but it's main drawback is the complexity of the option menu that poses a major task in logistics to get to play a game. Cursor keys are used to place your move, so AGF or Protek joysticks may be used. General rating: very good for puzzle enthusiasts, especially with its 9 skill levels. Overall CRASH rating 57%, machine code.

ARCTURAN MIND MATCH

Memory: 48K
Price: 6.95

Mind game enthusiasts should find Arcturus from Visions Software Factory just the thing to occupy a few spare hours - or days. At the start of the tape are about 20 screens recounting the saga of how the Arcturans' ultimate mental challenge formed part of a plot to take over the free world and, although there seems to be no harm in it, it is not clear why it was included since it has no bearing on the game. So, unless you have nothing better to do, skip the saga and start with the demonstration of the game, which could be described as a complex form of noughts and crosses.

Each player attempts to place noughts or crosses in a line of four on either one single squared board or across the four which are shown in perspective, superimposed one above the other on the screen. What constitutes a line, difficult to grasp at first, becomes clear after a few bouts against the computer, which can operate on 10 levels of skill.

Apart from that, the game incorporates a number of other choices and refinements. You can play against another player instead of the computer, with or without sound effects, and with the clock switched on or off. You can also replay a game, load and save one, or consult the computer for help.

The screen display is clear and the method of making moves is simple and convenient; you use the cursor keys to move round the squares and press ENTER for the square you warn. For those who like to pit their wits against a computer rather than human opponents, it is a well-presented version of an unusual and interesting game.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
JOYSTICK: No
SUPPLIER: Visions
PRICE: £6.95

Futuristic title screen followed by a staggering 25 screens of blurb introduce the intrepid player to a game of... 3D noughts and crosses.

The program claims to be difficult to beat, but the PCG editor won at the highest level first time off. Either he's a genius, or this is a duff game.