REVIEWS COURTESY OF ZXSR

Solomon's Key
by JPW, Raffaele Cecco
U.S. Gold Ltd
1987
Crash Issue 45, Oct 1987   page(s) 133

Producer: US Gold
Retail Price: £8.99
Author: Probe Software

Deep in King Solomon's mines lies a vast fortune, there for the taking - for anyone foolhardy or greedy enough to enter the subterranean world.

To reach the unimaginable wealth in this conversion of a coin-op original, you must make it alive through a series of rooms inhabited by menacing creatures like fat-tummied parrots, Michael Jackson llamas, jellyfish and fireball-firing heads. Not even the hardiest of souls can withstand their withering touch, and you have only six fragile lives ... but the unpleasant creatures can be disposed of with the fireballs you find in this underworld.

Each room contains coloured blocks arranged in patterns across the screen; these can be used as stepping stones to a key that unlocks an exit door. Finding a successful route isn't easy, but large open spaces in rooms may be crossed by laying further blocks to create a staircase. Take care, however - the inhabitants of the dark mines can destroy the block you're standing on, sending you tumbling down.

You too can destroy as well as construct, evaporating blue blocks that obstruct a horizontal pathway.

In each underground room, objects - handbells, angels, acorn crowns - can be collected to accumulate points. A time bonus can be added to this total - but if you overstay your welcome and can't reach the treasure before the deadline, then time really has waited for no man and money no longer concerns your corpse.

COMMENTS

Control keys: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: small and not very colourful
Sound: reasonable spot FX and decent opening tune
Options: definable keys


Solomon's Key has quite a lot of playability, and though the first screen is very easy the second is much more difficult and needs thought. With its small characters and bright graphics Solomon's Key looks like a budget game and probably should have been one - still, it's fun.
MIKE [69%]


Despite its simplistic plot and gameplay, Solomon's Key has turned out very well indeed. The graphics are good, though they do get a bit cluttered when there's a lot going on. And though I doubt I'll be playing it in a few months, the game as a whole is appealing and fairly addictive.
BEN [83%]


King Solomon must have been a pretty wealthy bloke judging by all the treasure dotted around here! Anybody remember Mastertronic's Rockman? Well, Solomon's Key is very similar but a bit better presented. The graphics are well-defined, the animation is good and there's plenty of playability. The idea of dodging nasties and collecting keys may not seem too exciting but I assure you you'll be addicted in a second.
NICK [83%]

REVIEW BY: Mike Dunn, Ben Stone, Nick Roberts

Presentation81%
Graphics73%
Playability82%
Addictive Qualities78%
Overall78%
Summary: General Rating: A simple but enjoyable arcade puzzle game.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 23, Nov 1987   page(s) 40

US Gold
£8.99

Absolutely brilliant. That's the phrase that hopped, skipped and jumped into my brain after playing this game for a couple of hours at a stretch. Solomon's Key is a conversion, by Probe Software, of the fab and popular arcade coin-op machine by Tecno, a very addictive arcade strategy game. To be perfectly frank, coin pickers, it's as corking a rendition of an arcade as you'll find anywhere. And is it addictive? Well, I've had to stop writing this review at least twice for 'just one more go', so you can take it as read that it's more addictive than peanuts or digestive bikkies! (Yum!)

Although a sort of platform type, it's actually more strategic, as during play you can place the platforms and break them up as you go along. Choosing where you put the platforms, to allow you a leg up or let a baddie drop, is crucial and though this might sound like Slow City, it's actually a very fast process once you get the hang of it. You can pick up and drop platforms on either side, one up or one down any way you like. Except for the gold bricks, which are indestructible (tsk!), all of the bricks can be crunched or dropped anywhere on the screen.

Your objective is to get the tiny gold key, found in a hard to reach spot on the screen, and then go to the exit on that screen, whereupon you're whooshed off to the next level. (Yipe!) Now this seems easy when you explain it like that, but in actual fact it's very hard indeed. You'll need a lot of goes to learn the technique for each room, and it can get quite infuriating. But the amazing thing is you never lose your temper or get bored with doing it. No matter how close you were to the exit before the time ran out, you still press the start button for one more crack at it! Aaaagghhh!

The graphics are brilliantly done, if a little anaemic in colour, but really well animated. The gameplay is, I s'pose, similar to something like Boulder Dash/Rockford's Riot, where you're hopping around the screen collecting treasures and keys before heading for the exit. The main difference here is that if you walk off the end of a brick you'll fall, but at least you can fall all the way down the screen and not die.

Oh dear! I can see that for the next couple of weeks I'll be sneaking off for quick rounds of Solomon's Key and I confidently predict that you will, too. If any game we've reviewed recently deserves to be a smash hit, this one does. Buy it!


REVIEW BY: Phil South

Graphics9/10
Playability9/10
Value For Money9/10
Addictiveness9/10
Overall9/10
Summary: The most addictive game of the year, and one of the very few coin-op conversions which is every bit as good as the original.

Award: Your Sinclair Megagame

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Sinclair Issue 57, Sep 1990   page(s) 66

Cripes! You'd better look sharpish 'cos here comes...

THE COMPLETE YS GUIDE TO PUZZLE GAMES

Yep, readers, looks like it's time once again for another one of those Complete Guide thingies. This issue, for your delight and delectation, we thought we'd take a peek at the more puzzley sort of games. Y'know - puzzle games - those sort of weird ones where you have to use a bit of the ol' grey matter to solve, erm, puzzles and things. And who better to clasp you by the hand and drag you through the world of the mind-boggling than YS's resident 'heart-throb' RICH PELLEY. Hurrah!

BUT FIRST... THE RATINGS

As usual, the normal rating system seems a bit crap in these circumstances, so here's a different one instead.

FIENDISHNESS
How complex and difficult to finish are the puzzles? Are they a complete bummer to complete, or could you do it with your little finger stuck, er, wherever you want to stick it?

LACK OF SLEEP FACTOR
Will it have you coming back for more (and more) or will a few games be enough? (Who knows?)

PULL YOUR HAIR OUT FACTOR
Is the game easy to get into, or do you have to spend ages looking up various keys, and working out what's going on all the time? (The lower the mark the better the gameplay in this case.)

VARIATION
Are the puzzles varied, or are they all the same? (Er, obvious, really.)

Okay, so I admit it - I'm crap at puzzle games. Come to think of it, I'm crap at most games really. And I'm not in a particularly good mood today either 'cos I've got a sneaky suspicion that this guide thingy is going to take absolutely ages to write. Even though Matt has reassured me "It won't take long" and Jonathan has informed me (much to my surprise) that "Honest, it'll really be a lot of fun to do" I'm a little dubious. Still, let's get on with it and see what happens, shall we?

For a start, I can see one big problem staring me in the face almost immediately. I mean, what exactly makes a puzzle game a puzzle game, eh? One man's puzzle game may another one's arcade adventure be or, um, something really. We've had countless arguments here in the office over it already (and for some reason I always seem to lose). For instance, Matt thought Arkanoid, Batty and the like might almost count, while Jonathan firmly disagreed. (In fact, if Jonathan had had his way, Tetris would be 'the only true puzzler ever written' and this would be the shortest Complete Guide on record!) Seeing as this is my feature though, and I'm writing it, everybody's going to have to agree with me!

And what is my definition? Well, it's fairly loose really. It's anything where you have to try to work out some sort of (perhaps totally abstract) mental problem against a time limit. Most great puzzle games are based on one very simple initial idea, which is then perhaps spiced up by slicking in lots of different ways that you can earn bonuses, die, get extra weapons or abilities (if it's a weapons sort of game) and so on. It's the simple initial idea that really counts though - if you haven't got that, you ain't got much really.

So what sort of puzzle games have we got here, then? Well, lots of different ones really - there are games where you must arrange blocks, make pictures, blow up balls, collect keys, and do masses more equally weird and wonderful puzzley things.

One good thing though is the scope - unlike in most areas of Speccy programming, with puzzle games you sometimes actually get a degree of originality. The games I've covered here are all good ones, and all still fairly easily available and - would you believe it? - no two of them are the same! (Well, no three of them at least.) And, erm, cripes, looks like I've run out of things to say. So, um, I'll stop waffling and get on with it, shall I?

THE FIRST PUZZLE GAME IN SPECCY HISTORY

Um, er, um. Now you re asking. Turning to the very first issue of Your Spectrum (ie Your Sinclair in disguise), I find one lurking in the first few pages. Traxx from Quicksilver is its name, and what seems to happen is that you move around this little grid thing collecting squares. Fun, eh? (Alright, I admit it. Of course there's no way that could be the first commercially available puzzle game, but it's the first I could come up with. Sorry and all that.) Anyway, on with the show.

NB Erm, actually, before we start, I'd just like to clear something up. You may notice that all the marks for the following games are quite high - there don't seem to be any crap ones. Now this isn't 'cos I'm a great puzzles fan or anything (in truth I hate them all) - it's just that unfortunately all the ones I've picked have been quite original and good. And keeping up my reviewer's credibility, I have to be fair. Hence the high marks.

Solomons' Key
US Gold
Reviewer: Rich Pelley

An extremely popular game back in '87 - and it still looks good today. At first glance it looks uncannily like your standard arcade adventure, but play it a bit and you may (just) be able to squeeze a bit of a puzzle out of it. Hopefully anyway, 'cos we are meant to be in The Complete Guide To Puzzle Games. (This is one of those wobbly, borderline, six-hours-of-argument-in-the-YS-office sort of games I was going on about at the beginning, I'm afraid.)

Right. The idea is to collect the key on each screen to allow you to get onto the next one. You do this by moving this little chap with a strange hat on around the screen he can create blocks in certain places, and also disintegrate the ones he doesn't want. Graphics are cute city, and yet again it's another one of those 'just one more go' type games. A good 'un.

AND FINALLY...

There we have it! As I predicted (and Matt and Jonathan got totally wrong) it took me absolutely blooming ages. And most of that time was spent arguing about what a puzzle game actually is and what qualifies and what doesn't (which is one reason why we don't have a giant list of all the ones ever made - we just couldn't agree what they were!).

Next month - Flight Sims. (Something everyone can agree on.) Hurrah!


REVIEW BY: Rich Pelley

Fiendishness84%
Lack Of Sleep Factor77%
Pull Your Hair Out Factor16%
Variation88%
Overall85%
Transcript by Chris Bourne

Sinclair User Issue 67, Oct 1987   page(s) 23

Label: US Gold
Author: Probe
Price: £8.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Graham Taylor

This year's Boulderdash methinks. Solomon's Key has similar appeal. The art of it is as much thought as speedy response (although you need plenty of both).

And the game is both mind numbingly simple and very addictive.

Where Boulderdash had boulders Solomon's Key has blocks. Blocks that may be destroyed by a well aimed head-butt or created out of nothing.

The game idea: from the bottom of the screen your little man has to climb up using blocks as stepping stones - building as he goes - to reach an exit at the top of the screen The whole thing is under the clock - the quicker you do it the more points you get and - also - on the way there are bonus items to be collected for even more points and a key to be found to open the exit to the next level.

To begin with the problem is time - just choosing sensible routes, learning the art of manipulating the blocks and getting the key within the time limit. After two or three goes you get the hang of it and the first screen becomes comparatively simple. On later levels though, things get more difficult. Assorted creatures start to wander around the blocks - you either have to dodge them or destroy them by collapsing a block from under them at a key moment.

There are firebomb bonuses to help which mean you can wipe out on-coming aliens when the going get really tough and other peculiar objects scattered around each screen which bump up your score by mysterious amounts.

As you progress it gets very, very difficult indeed.

It took me ages to figure out how to do the second screen - you hardly have time to think before what appears to be a fire-breathing fox and disembodied head hurtle down the screen at you.

The programming is excellent. True there isn't really anything very difficult involved - nice attribute grid-shaped objects and not too many moving objects - but nevertheless the end result is really colourful, smooth and fast.

The only significant criticism I can make is that, like adventure games, once you've found the solution to a level that's it.

After trial and error I cracked Level 1 so that I could always achieve a time bonus of more than 7000 - and the level soon became merely an irritating obstacle on the way to Level 2 which I hadn't yet cracked.

A 'choose your start level' option would have been much appreciated. A small point, though.

Generally the game is wonderful, it may be simple but could well be a seriously big hit.


REVIEW BY: Graham Taylor

Overall8/10
Summary: Simple idea but a superb game in Boulderdash style. Good conversion from Probe, too. A hit methinks.

Transcript by Chris Bourne

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 2, Nov 1987   page(s) 74

US Gold, £8.99cs

An enjoyable arcade strategy game that was great fun on the Amstrad. The Spectrum version is just as playable, and every bit as addictive. Not quite as colourful as the Amstrad version but still an entertaining game.


Ace Rating755/1000
Transcript by Chris Bourne

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