Domark
£14.99 SAM Coupe disk
Reviewer: James Leach

Gordon Bennett! Look what's just dropped through the shed's letterbox! A blue 3.5" disk with the letters SAM on it! My guess is it's some SAM software. Let's have a look it is! it's Prince Of Persia (and I'm going to review it!).

No doubt if you're a proud owner of one of those posh 16-bit machines you'll know all about this game, but for the others I'd better fill in the gaps. Basically, Prince Of Persia came out on the Amiga and ST around Christmas and was generally declared to be the best platform game anybody had seen in ages. It appeared a couple of months later on the 8-bit Amstrad (looking just as juicy, sort of) but nobody dreamt they'd ever see it on the Speccy. And to date they haven't been proved wrong!

Obviously, those clever folks over at SAM HQ were quick to realise this, and decided to upstage our humble rubber-keyed chum by doing a really prestige conversion job on it. And after all the problems they've had trying to their blue and white baby taken seriously, this might just do the trick. It really is terrific stuff.

So, erm, let's delve into the mysteries of the East, shall we?

SULTANS OF SWING

Right, the plot. You play the Prince himself, who's sitting at the bottom of a huge castley-dungeon type thing. Your girlfriend's been kidnapped, and being held at the top of the one of the towers. So you've got to work your way up the levels until you reach (and, I suppose, rescue) her.

So how come it's so classy then? Well, for a start there's the animation - you've never seen anything like it. Your little chap rushes around in such an amazingly life-like manner that it looks there's a real blokey dashing around the screen. His hands fly about and his body jerks as he runs around - and when he climbs up onto ledges you can see him putting his elbows to lift himself up!

But it's not just the graphics that make PoP so good - you'll soon get hooked exploring the castle, trying to find your way around all the corridors to get to the next level. A quick hint - the first thing to do is find your sword. Once you've got that you stand a better chance at defending yourslf against all the baddies who jump out at you, looking for a slice of your flesh (see box).

MAPPING MADNESS

Wandering around the castle is a mapper's dream. There are five levels, and each is a different floor with secret rooms and potions to be drunk (most of these restore strength, but be on your guard - a couple will make you very ill indeed!) just to make things a bit more difficuly there are gates (which operate by pressure pads on the floor nearby) and snapping guillotines (you're going to need timing here). As you get further into the castle things get more complicated and a lot harder. You'll be lucky to have any hair on your head left by Level Three!

What else? Oh yes, the sound's also pretty amazing. Weird Eastern-type tunes flow out (and there are some fabby sounnd effects) so it's all a million miles from the standard Speccy beeps and burps.

There's no doubt about it - Prince Of Persia is very difficult, very addictive, and an awful lot of fun (sorry to go on about it) the graphics are so brill I've simply got to give it a Megagame. Goodness knows it deserve it (just as the SAM deserves such a corking game to show off all it jolly clever talents). Heartily recommended.

SAM Coupe
£14.99 (disk only)

Oh! The East - what a wonderful place it is! But, and this is the spooky thing, there's always trouble afoot in some mystical manner. This latest Coupe game's full of the stuff and it's magic (ie, ace). Join NICK ROBERTS as he samples a bit of Turkish Delight!

It's a sad time for the people of Persia. The Sultan has been off fighting a foreign war and his Grand Vizier, Jaffar, has seized the reins of power. The only obstacle between Jaffar and the throne of Persia is a young adventurer that has won the heart of the Sultan's daughter. That adventurer is you.

But calamity strikes - you've been arrested, parted from your sword and possessions and thrown into the deep dungeons of the Sultan's castle while the princess has been locked in the highest tower. Jaffar has given your true love a choice and an hour to decide - marry him or die! Can you escape and rescue the princess to become... Prince of Persia?

JUICY JAFFAR'S TRAPS

To rescue the princess, careful leaping, running and ducking is needed, as you never know when one of Jaffar's traps will spring. There are 13 levels to the game, each set in a different part of the castle, and every one holds different obstacles for you to overcome.

As well as the guards, who vary in skill, there are spikes that rise from the ground, slabs falling from above, metal blades, bad potions and bottomless pits to be negotiated. Collecting the correct potions replenishes some of the energy you're bound to lose along the way. However, one of the first things you should look for is your sword - fighting's a little difficult without it, but isn't that always the way!

AMAZING ANIMATIONS

The most dazzling aspect of Prince Of Persia is the sheer detail in the animation sequences. From the introduction with the princess to the leaps and bounds of the hero, the slickness of movement is astounding. This isn't surprising as the original sprites were modelled on live action - such as the sword-fighting films of the Thirties - to give ultimate realism.

Many people may find simply moving about the game difficult to begin with. By combining the directional controls the hero can perform an amazing amount of different movements; and it's not until you mastered each one that you can start to master each level in turn.

BLACK MAGIC BOXES

In addition to the basic fighting and adventuring elements, there are strange goings on in the castle. Jaffar is a master of black magic and will use it to stop you. A particular favourite sequence of mine is where you have to jump through a mirror to exit from a level. A shadow of yourself then runs in the opposite direction! Spooky, oh? From then on in the game the shadow crops up from time to time to make things more difficult, like stealing a potion when you could just do with it!

Prince Of Persia is undoubtedly the best SAM Coupe game yet - its combination of superb gameplay and graphical content really shows off what the SAM can do!

NICK [95%]

The only word I can use to express my amazement at the SAM version of Prince Of Persia is unprintable. I thought Nick was playing a trick and had loaded up the Amiga version, the main sprite is so similar. His movements are very fluid and lifelike, especially when jumping around and hanging on to a ledge for dear life (usually just above a wicked looking spike). The obstacles placed in the player's path are very dangerous and, in the case of the mechanical ones, difficult to pass without practice. The two blades that clang together are a good example: they look like something out of an Indiana Jones movie and make a nasty mess of our hero if he botches his move. Prince Of Persia goes to show what the Coupe is capable of and, from now on, it's the game for all other software houses to beat.
MARK [96%]

LABEL: Domark/Borderline
MEMORY: 512K
TAPE: n/a
DISK: £14.99

Anyone who's seen Prince of Persia on those big expensive PC's will know that their owners have been flapping at the gills about it for months. Well the news from Revelation, the geniuses behind the project's initiation, is that the Sam Coupe version is the best that money can buy!

Not much to look at initially, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. A big, blond haired sprite dressed in white pajamas, stands upright and ridged against a blue brick wall whose only other features are a plain door and two burning torches. But then you move. And what movement! If you're used to seeing your sprites slide around the screen or shift awkwardly from foot to foot you're going to be shocked out of your shorts! The Prince moves with the grace and fluidity of a blob of mercury flowing through a maze. He jumps, crouches, walks, runs and fights with such realism you gasp along with him at every move he makes. You could watch him running around for hours; even forgetting that you've got a game to play!

When you do get down to the quest though it s all a bit of a cliche. Kidnapped Princess, Evil Grand Vizier, rescuing the girl by going around the platforms and completing the levels. But it's in the gameplay and movement that Prince of Persia shatters all the 'animation' standards.

And the game's not that easy either because there are fiendish traps to be negotiated and devilish devices to overcome. Corridors housing vicious steel blades, that quite literally dice you up, block your every turn and pits full of spikes are ready to take the wind out of your sails if you get too hurried.

Potions that restore health and sword fighting Turks also abound as well as skeletal soldiers that cannot be killed except by leading them off precarious ledges.

The Prince must use all his speed dand all your cunning to complete his task in the multitude of levels. And so what if the backgrounds don't vary much, you'll not be looking at them very often, you'll be too busy marveling at the Prince's dexterous deeds and the awesome animation. All this and brilliant music and sound effects too. If you own a Sam you can't get better and if you don't, well, this is the game that was made for it. Easily the best version of Prince Of Persia on ANY format!