Producer: The Edge
Retail Price: £8.95
Author: John Pitcher

THE EDGE have brought a touch of class to the staid old adventure with a wide choice of options on play and some pretty pleasing graphics and sound effects. Loading up presents you with the options of Kempston/Sinclair Joystick or Keyboard control. Although the icon option with joystick and little on-screen arrow may be the slicker looking of the two, it is in fact the keyboard option which, once all the key assignments are mastered, plays the better.

You are Prince Kyle leading your band of loyal warriors in search of Nemesar, your younger brother, and the Mindstone he has stolen. Members of the trusty team which accompanies you are called upon by pressing numbers 1 to 4 in Keyboard Mode, a mode made all the more attractive by way of its keeping the strength and psyche attributes of a character up on the screen (making the S for Status key superfluous). Gold reserves are also shown on screen but this is the same for each team member as it is a team figure. The team consists of Kyle, who has average to high values for strength and psyche at the start, Merel, who has the highest strength but lowest psyche, Quin who averages in both, and Taina, who has the lowest strength but the highest psyche. Strength, clearly, is a measure of competence in combat but you may be puzzled at the word 'psyche' which turns out to be an indication of how well versed the character is in spell lore.

During play all attributes can be altered with strength being increased by eating and drinking, psyche assisted with meditation under the right conditions, and gold pieces can be accumulated by mining or alchemy. If you are finding it difficult to attain gold by these means it's worth noting how buying provisions and artefacts can be made less damaging by bartering, which entails offering slightly less for an item than has been quoted. For example, I acquired a Royal Orb from a pixie for the bargain price of 36 (a discount of 3 gold pieces) while a golden arrow cost 53 as opposed to the 56 gold pieces price quoted by a voyager.

EXAMINE and LOOK are two commands used often in this game. EXAMINE tells you something about the location you are in. It tells you if something is blocking your way (a crocodile, locked door, or block of ice and so on) or whether a trader is present. LOOK tells of any objects lying within the present location but spells, being of the magic world, are transparent to the LOOK command. Instead spells are indicated by a brief flash of a spotted square at the side of the screen, possibly the only example of tatty presentation and design in the whole game - it very much has the look of a feature grafted on late in the development stage of the game. The 'hand' icon, indicating the presence of an object, isn't much better, and these two features together require a certain amount of vigilance for what is otherwise a slowly paced adventure game.

There is some animation with the picture window along the top third of the screen. A character selected to perform moves across the screen from far left to right either to take a drink from the bar, attack a wolf or an orc or whatever, or cast a spell to smooth the way. The animation wouldn't win any cartoon awards but is amusing enough.

Mindstone is a game which really impresses graphically. In play, as well, it is most engaging (although this comment can only be attributed to Keyboard Mode which is far more playable than the slicker looking Icon Mode) with some very pleasant sound effects. The game doesn't allow for the team to go their separate ways, and the poster on offer can only be described as a waste of paper for a joke), but mostly everything else is truly impressive.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: easy
Graphics: good
Presentation: superb
Input facility: keyboard of icon
Response: fast

The Edge
£8.95

The blurb on the back of the packaging describes Mindstone as 'bound to enter the annals as one of the true classics in micro adventures!' Well, I know it's a tough job writing product descriptions, but it seems like someone didn't check out the product first to see whether it would stand up to such an outright boast. Now I'm not saying that Mindstone is a lousy game, it's just I don't think it really rates as a 'classic'.

It's basically an adventure game which uses single key inputs to replace the normal text inputs. In the game you control Prince Kyle and three of his companions on a quest to recover the Mindstone which has been stolen by Kyle's brother, Nemesar. To do this you must travel through the Shadowlands, solving problems, finding objects, casting spells and generally carrying on like a true adventure type person.

The problems you face during the quest seem to fall mainly into the old class of finding the right object to use in the right situation.

There are also some trading elements in the game as you have to equip your team and buy extra information or trade with other characters in order to further your journey.

Mindstone is a fairly average adventure style game with a few interesting features like optical icon control. Nothing to write home about.

Label: The Edge
Author: John Pitcher
Price: £8.95
Joystick: Various
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Graham Taylor

Mindstone is Dungeons and Dragons in disguise. It may be wrapped up in icons, animated screens and visual clues, but at heart it's a game of stamina, battling, spell casting and exploration.

As such it is neatly presented and highly entertaining though not, I think, so utterly technically staggering as previous Edge offerings.

Once again a crazed son kills his mother, breaks his father's spirit causing him to nearly go bald, and runs off with the most powerful substance in the kindgom. The crazy is Nemesar, the mother was Shalmera, the father is King Jorma, the substance is the Mindstone and the kingdom is the Shadowlands. The good guy is Prince Kyle, brother of Nemesar who assembles a team of close friends and comrades - Merel Quin and Taina - and sets off to find Nemesar and the Mindstone. Each member of the team has a different strength, for instance. Merel is strong and Taina has more psych power (used for spell casting).

Explore the Shadowlands, discover useful objects and spells, trade, defeat enemies, remove obstacles. Gradually you begin to discover what character is best suited to what purpose, you find ways of replenishing strength, psyche power and gold. As you search the Shadowlands you come across people with useful objects or advice to sell. You discover too, obstacles, of various kinds, blocking your way. Clearing a path may require the right spell, in the right person's possession, or perhaps brute force from the strongest member of your team.

Actions cost - one way or another - casting spells uses psyche power, battling uses strength. Whilst some team members are more obviously suited to certain tasks than others, it is important to share the duties so that no one character gets completely dissipated. It's important too. to keep your eyes open. When a useful spell or object is present a symbol momentarily flashes on to the screen as you enter it.

There are two kinds of graphic display divided between the top and bottom of the screen. The top of the screen is rather like the kind of location illustration you might expect in a medium quality, graphically illustrated adventure. It gives some sense of atmosphere but wouldn't win any prizes.

The same may be said of the animation. In the top screen you see the four members of the team. If you tell one of them to, say, fight, he or she will walk over to the opponent and begin what appears to be a strange ritual dance, where both sides politely take turns in attacking. Attacking and trading are mostly animated and, quite honestly, I could live without it.

The bottom section of the screen is for issuing commands and keeping track of the status of each character. It displays the current character status, objects held and spells possessed. If you are using the joystick/icon control mode, it also displays the various command options. The graphic and icons are good, rather like Shadowfire, although some of the objects need to be described using the Examine option, (which uses words) to tell what they represent.

I enjoyed Mindstone very much. Many attempts have been made to integrate D + D style strategy with adventure puzzles and graphics. Mindstone is one of the most entertaining, if not the most technically ambitious.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
SUPPLIER: The Edge
PRICE: £8.95

Long, long ago, in a land where people were cursed with the most preposterous names there was a ruler named Jorma. Jorma ruled the Teia people, who - amazingly enough - were peaceful and contented.

Jorma had two sons, Kyle and Nemesar. He favoured Kyle, which irritated Nemey no end. Now, the problem with trying to bring up a family in such early times is that it's so difficult to teach the social graces. I mean, it must be pretty tough to persuade the kiddies not to vomit at dinner when all round them are scenes of barbarism and unbridled hiccupping. Such behaviour has obviously worn off on poor old Nemesar, as he has become really quite unsociable.

He bumbed-off his mum, and then took control of the Mindstone, which holds the power to do amazing things. When in the hands of the Good, it can do wonders for crops, healing and the weather. In the hands of a malicious soul, however, trouble will brew quicker than you can say "Oh crumbs!"

Taking the role of Kyle, it is your quest to seek out your brother and return the mindstone to a safe place.

The game takes place in the relative desolation of the Shadowlands. You guide a party of three warriors, each possessing different attributes. From time to time, your path will be blocked by an obstacle of some kind. These are rather diverse - you could encounter anything from a wall of ice, though a leopard to a crocodile on your travels. Usually you will be given a hint as to how you should approach each problem.

Should you find yourself without the suitable object with which to bribe or despatch the obstacle, you can always try to kill it (providing it is an animate life-form).

Often in combat, a member of your party will be killed. Usually, though, they do manage to defeat their opponent, so the sacrifice is generally worthwhile.

The graphics could not be described as all that amazing, and there is very little animation. The characters move around when attacking or trading with other creatures, but are essentially static. The second is far from exciting, which leads this reviewer to the question "So what is the appeal, eh?"

Well, fortunately for all at The Edge, the program has great game-play!

It's all done with the joystick. Although they claim that it's all "icon driven" is perhaps a little tenuous - you highlight words instead of pictures 60% of the time - it's easy to get started.

You can select your movement direction by pointing at a specific arrow, and hitting fire. Alternating character control is handled in the same way, and is a "joy" to use.

You can barter with the wandering tradesmen which litter the landscape, but you can't attack them.

Mindstone is quite good, and the price is reasonable. You get a map on the back of the considerably extensive instructions, though I couldn't decipher the decidedly arty script.

A FAMILIAR ADVENTURE TALE GIVEN THE ICON TREATMENT BY THE EDGE.

The Edge
£8.95

It's the same old story, handsome young prince born first in line to the throne and doted over by his parents whilst the scraggy younger brother gets all jealous and twisted and runs off with the magical heirloom that gives the king his powers and keeps everything jolly in the kingdom.

That's the story behind the new icon driven, animated graphic adventure from The Edge, called Mindstone. The Mindstone is the magical object that has been stolen by the evil prince Nemesar, and it is your task in the game to take on the role of Kyle (the crown prince) and to lead him and his followers across the Shadowlands to confront Nemesar and regain the Mindstone.

Kyle's three followers are Merel, Taina, and Quin, and like Kyle they all have their own Strength and Psyche scores which determine how successful they are likely to be in physical or magical combat. Each of the four characters can carry four objects and a single spell, so there is an element of judgment involved in deciding how to allocate the items that you find on your journey.

Merel is physically strong but psychically weak, whilst Taina is the reverse. Quin and Kyle are about average in both areas, so obviously you use Merel and Taina as specialists in their respective areas while Kyle and Quin are really just back-up men as far as combat is concerned (though when their strength scores are at their peak they are both capable of knocking out the odd wolf or crocodile. And knowing just when to use which character is part of the skill of the game, Merel and Taina might be the specialists of the team, but if you use them too often you'll drain their abilities and find yourself lumbered just when you need them most.)

It's a bit tricky to describe Mindstone as it incorporates elements from games as diverse as Shadowfire, Tir Na Nog, and even a bit of Lords of Midnight, but basically the game is a graphic adventure with some animation, icons, and a few other bells and whistles added on. That's not intended to sound too derogatory, since the whole thing is very well presented and quite absorbing and doesn't make any claims to be anything other than a graphic adventure, but perhaps I was expecting something as innovative as Fairlight, The Edge's last trip into arcade adventuring.

The top third of the screen is used to show a graphical representation of the current location, along with any other characters, gateways etc that you might have to deal with. Your four characters are generally shown standing at the far left of this picture, but they can be seen to walk across the screen in response to your commands as they attempt to attack or trade in some way with other characters.

The remainder of the screen display contains icons of the four characters and a compass which you use to direct their movements. The author, John Pitcher, has allowed for both icon control of the game or a more conventional keyboard control.

If you choose icon control you can steer a pointer around the screen using a joystick, and once you have chosen the character you wish to instruct you can choose either an Actions or Attack menu which offer you a range of options for combat, spell casting or for dealing with objects or other characters. These include obvious adventure commands such as Attack, Examine, and so on, but also a number of others including Trade, Buy, Meditate, and Dig. In icon mode you choose the appropriate command by moving the flashing cursor around the menu, but in keyboard mode you have a system of single key entry (as in Lords of Midnight) whereby each key corresponds to a specific command. Keyboard control means that you've got more to remember, but icon control is a little bit fiddly at times as you keep swapping from character to character and all the various menus. But the control system does work quite well, as the icon system allows you to get started quickly and without having to memorise all the control keys, then, as you become more accustomed to the game, you can speed up play by moving onto keyboard control (but you can only use one control system in each game, you can't swap from icons to keyboard in the middle of one).

As with all adventures it's vital that you make a map as you go along, although The Edge thoughtfully provide a rough sketch map of the Shadowlands on the cassette inlay. I suppose that because of the animation I was expecting more of an arcade element in the game, perhaps something like Enigma Force or Fairlight, but as I mentioned earlier Mindstone is really just a graphic adventure with souped-up icon driven presentation, and once you treat it as that both you and the game are more likely to do each other justice.

As with most adventures, problem solving is a matter of gathering together the correct objects in the right place, though, as usual, there are always more objects to carry than you can use at any one time so you've got to choose which objects to take with you and which ones to leave behind for later use. When bartering for items or deciding which character to use in a fight there's the added element of judgment that you've got to use and quite often the consequences of an action won't become clear until much later in the game.

The memory taken up by the icon system means that Mindstone isn't as complex or as rich in brain-bubbling puzzles as a Level 9 game might be, but on the other hand the control system is very 'user friendly" and allows you to get into the game quickly and without having to sit there wondering which is the right word to use all the time, so Mindstone is well worth having a look at whether you're an adventure novice or a hardened are basher.