Producer: Silversoft
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95 and £7.95 respectively
Language: Spanish machine code
Author: Victor Ruiz

These two games, which are sold separately, form a two part graphical adventure game. The central character is a chap called Professor Indiana Smith (no relation to the Joneses) and his ultimate goal is to rescue poor Victor and nick a bit of loot (salvage treasure) in the process.

In the first game, Saimazoom, our hero is trying to explore a hundred-screen region for some treasure. In effect this area is a maze because hills, rivers and trees act as barriers. As Smith wanders about the joint he will occasion upon a variety of items, most important of which are canisters of water his water level is always falling and needs constant topping up. Other finds include canoes, pickaxes, guns, keys et al (AI plays no part however). These items are placed into a 'bag' able to contain only four items, which are shown on the side of the playing area. Now, if Smith finds himself in a tight spot because he is being chased by the Tibag Indians or the occasional wild animal the assorted goodies can come in very handy.

The canoe can be used to escape over a river, the gun to kill or the pickaxe to move mountains. These objects can only be used once, so if you cross a river you must find another to come back. One item that can be retained takes the form of a key. Some of the treasure could be locked in one of the strange locked rooms the key will let you in for a quick explore but mind the snakes.

For his second mission Smith finds himself in the gardens of Baba Liba. His task: rescue Victor, find the treasure and pinch a princess. Again the garden forms a vast maze except that this time the barriers cannot be penetrated. You must use your skill to find a route and get the three keys that allow you into the palace. There are even more nasty people and unpleasant wildlife to deal with but at least you have the means. You start the game with 14 short-fuse bombs. If you find your path blocked by something, drop a bomb and dash into another screen, put your fingers to your ears and wait. When you return the personage will have been killed. Alas one cannot use bombs for blowing up the shrubbery, then the task of reaching the palace would be just too easy.

COMMENTS

Control keys: O/P left/right, Q/A up/down, Space to fire
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: good choice of keys
Use of colour: very basic
Graphics: neat but dated
Sound: limited
Skill levels: 1
Lives: 4 and 3
Screens: 100 each

Saimazoom is essentially a collect the bits game. The graphics are unremarkable but this type of game can be instantly playable but, as in this case, has little lasting appeal. I found the animals too easy to dodge and the game too easy to play. Baba Liba is marginally better than part one. The maze area is more enclosed and better drawn, the nasties are a lot nastier so the bombs come in handy. Of the two parts I preferred the latter.

Saimazoom is one of those games, you know the sort, you buy it and feel you have been ripped off. Later on you begin to get into it a little more, until you buy another game, after that it rots in a comer. Apart from being very dated I can't find anything desperately wrong with it, but it is rather a step back for Silversoft. The graphics are big and jolly and jerky. Playability wise Saimazoom becomes boring after a few goes, I would give it a miss. Baba-Liba on the other hand is a much better game. The graphics, while still dated, seem to fill up the screen a little more (like my Art teacher I hate empty spaces). What little sound there is, is good, more would have helped a lot. Baba-Liba is the more playable and more addictive of the two games.

I was pretty disappointed with these two games, I can't help feeling they slipped through some sort of time thingie, perhaps from the days of the ZX80. While they are both fun, Saimazoom more so, they get boring pretty quickly. Neither are hard games to play so perhaps there rests the answer. I will recommend them for the toddler games, lots of mini fun, not too much aggravation.