Producer: Virgin
Retail Price: £9.95
Author: Level 9

"Being popular as well as intelligent isn't easy", is just one of the many profound observations which emanate from the poet of the Midlands, Adrian Mole - 15 and a quarter years old. We join our schoolboy hero at the turn of another new year, studying for O Levels but dreaming of A Levels and beyond. The only problem is that this is Thatcher's Britain, and Intellectualism in general (and soppy non-violent pastimes such as poetry in particular) are positively frowned upon.

Adrian, a gangly and spotty adolescent, spends much of the game struggling to make sense of life at the end of a cul-de-sac in Leicester, a town just north of errr, and south of errr; exactly. Although Adrian's pubescent fumblings with girls such as Sharon Botts and his long-standing crush Pandora, are amusing, there is much more to the Adrian Mole Diaries than this. In these books and computer games we take a wry look at provincial Britain, where the people who created and settled the industrial heartlands watch the antics of 10 Downing Street with bemused disbelief. Adrian has set his sights on a studio flat in Hampstead with no interruptions from 'Hawkers, Traders or Philistines', but for now we must suffer his growing pains against the backcloth of the Falklands (he eventually found the islands on his map under a cake crumb), the water strike, and powerful lobbies which ply children with chocolate and have the Moles wondering why 'socks have their ingredients listed but not all foods'?

The computer game follows closely both the book and the recent Thames television series. Having bought the book for this review, and caught some of the TV programs. I must say that familiarity with the scripts will enable you to gain a higher mark when playing the computer game. The score is your prime concern during play, your aim being to increase it by making Adrian as popular with everyone as possible. As you might guess, this is not always an easy matter due to competing interests (eg Pandora or Nigel's views in the Pink Brigade), or due to unforeseen negative results to saintly acts. These unpredictable twists in plot are what keep you from the higher, more complimentary- sounding scores. If a game is going well you might rise from the likes of Worthy Youth (from a start of the 40%-rated Lowly Schoolboy) through the Poet ratings to Worthy Prodigy (76%), and on to the heady heights of Suburban Paragon of Virtue (81%), but it will take all four parts (between which ratings are transferable) to go very far into the eighties.

A criticism which has been levelled at these MOSIAC BOOKWARE products (in this case marketed by VIRGIN) concerns the games' ability to only withstand one run-through, as with a book. Having played the first part of this game several times, I have noticed a few devices to counter this criticism. After playing through the part once you would expect a re-run to see you making all the correct decisions; but not only is it hard to remember the right choice between the 3 options (made more difficult by the program swapping round the question order), it will be noticed that certain sections vary in content and order. In the first part the canal sequence involving Mr Mole's government scheme reclamation job may either be missing entirely or dealt with at great length. Similarly, the toothache sequence may be touched upon or agonised over for some time.

Curiously, this variation can be responsible for a justified criticism in that the program lacks the chronology of the book and hence people unfamiliar with the Moles and their environs may need some prior introduction to the colourful characters which inhabit their world. For example, at the start of Part Three we are told of Adrian's father going to see a Brett, and a Stick Insect. Readers of the book will immediately recognise the nicknames of his father's lover and the offspring of their union, but what of newcomers? The plot can also suffer due to the attempts to vary the game each time it is played. Take Adrian's relationship with Pandora which is fine at the end of one part and then mysteriously cool at the beginning of another, the reason being lost in text which may not pop up until these parts are played several times.

Before finishing, could I just mention some points about the structure of this four-part adventure. Each part can be loaded separately and then played repeatedly to obtain a higher score. As there are two parts per side, it is wise to stop the tape immediately after loading parts one or three, the first parts on sides A and B respectively. When playing the parts in a row do not be alarmed if at first the programs do not seem to be loading as this ignored information is only taken up if that part is being loaded on its own (a small white square appears at bottom right when the program is loading proper). As I've mentioned, the score does transfer between parts when the computer is not switched off; it would be impossible to achieve a high score otherwise. To quit a part, or to ask for help, option 4 is your choice (where RESTART is suggested to quit and begin a part again).

I consider the Adrian Mole games to be very entertaining, as they draw on some great material from the Sue Townsend books. This game, the follow-up to The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, is not perfect (when pictures are being drawn, and sometimes text zips up and off the screen before it can be read; also typographical errors crop up now and again) but it doesn't half keep you enthralled. Now I might have said 'doesn't half give you a run for your money' but a £9.95 price tag does not compare favourably with the METHUEN paperback book which costs just £1.95. While contemplating whether a termer outlay is worth the pleasure of guiding Mole through his adolescence, perhaps you might like to consider these two quotes, one from the program and the second from the book. The first concerns some perfectly reasonable advice to a cigarette manufacturer, "I have written to Rothmans offering to improve their health warning. The current one is very badly laid out." And how about this one for a comic ending to an innocuous-looking paragraph: "My father was ironing baby clothes when I got home from school. He said, 'If you laugh, I'll kill you'. My mother was feeding the baby, with her feet on the dog's back. It was a charming domestic picture, only spoiled when my father put the ironing board away and went home to his other family."

COMMENTS

Difficulty: about as difficult as opening a Mars bar
Graphics: weird, 'prepaid post cubist through mottled glass' school of art
Presentation: just fine
Input facility: press keys one to three
Response: fast

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The Growing Pains Of Adrian Mole
Producer: Ricochet
Price: £1.99
Original Rating: 88%

The spotty adolescent with a passion for poetry and his beloved tracle-haired, dog-eyed' Pandora suffers yet more teenage angst in this Level 9 adventure. First released in April 1987 by Mosaic/Virgin it follows the format of the first Sue Townsend inspired game, The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole. The tragicomedy of Mole family life is represented in diary form, with the player asked to make decisions for Adrian from time to time. Choices are limited to one of three options.

Adrian's objective is to be 100% popular with friends and family - an impossible quest you might think and certainly Adrian's intended good deeds have an amazing tendency to turn out the wrong way. If you're a fan of the books and/or TV series, this contains similar humour, some of it taken directly from the books, and some of it brand new material. A good budget buy.

Label: Virgin Games
Author: Level 9
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Reviewer: Graham Taylor

MONDAY 23 FEBRUARY 1987

Week 9.54-311

9.35: Two packages come into the SU office. The editor gives me one of them. "Review this," he says editorially. The package is The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole. I try to look enthusiastic as an authentic jack-of-all trades journalist should, secretly I am depressed.

9.36: Barry Kent get the other package it is Screaming Diz-busters Attack. It looks dead good. I look at Adrian Mole. It is an adventure. I feel just like I did when I got socks for Christmas instead of a Sony walkman.

9.55: I have loaded the game. My eyes have gone funny from trying to read the text on our crummy television. I have also forgotten to stop the tape where it said.

9.57: I have read the first bit, it is just like the book, I have a feeling of what I now know to be Deja-Vu. I am impressed by the authentic accuracy of the game and yet miffed that I know many of the jokes already. I note that I am learning to be critically balanced already.

10.02: Barry Kent has scored ten million on Screaming Diz-busters, for relaxation he comes to look at Adrian Mole. "Even considering the Spectrum's attribute problems those pictures at the top of the screen are useless," he says. Although he is a barbarian I reluctantly agree with him. His Neanderthal brain is sometimes oddly perceptive.

10.03: I play the game some more, I never have to do more than choose one out of three options or tell the computer to show me some more text. I feel that although my rating is now 'middling schoolboy' I deserve little credit and worry that Pandora will be more impressed by Barry Kent's 13,000057 on Screaming Diz-busters than my pathetic 46% on Adrian Mole.

10.10: I am beginning to think there is almost no connection between what choice you make in the game and what score you get. This is a crucial investigative point and shows my growing maturity as a journalist. Pandora will surely be impressed.

10.12: It only takes about five minutes to work through each section of the game, then you have to keep loading up new segments. So far I have forgotten to stop the tape three times. Barry Kent has been through all the screens of Screaming Diz-busters twelve times and now has a score of twelve because of a bug in the program.

10.15: I have laughed or inwardly smirked whilst playing The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole 15.5 times (a good journalist must base his writings on hard facts according to the Editor so I kept a record). This is more than I laughed at Mugsy but less than I laughed at World Cup Carnival. I feel the phrase 'marginally humourous' hits the right note.

10.20: Although the temptation to write a damning indictment of the game which leaves the page smouldering in an authentic Bernard Levin manner is strong I feel one must be balanced. I must bear in mind that the program might be suitable for younger children who don't want more than three options at a time. Barry Kent says that even young children are better at computer games than me. I ignore him.

10.25: Enough is enough. I have broken the rewind on the tape machine and played through all the game once. I must now commit type to paper but Barry Kent has taken the mains lead.

SUPPLIER: Virgin/Mosaic/Level 9
MACHINE: Amstrad, Spectrum 48K/128K, Atari 400/800, BBC B and MSX
PRICE: £9.95

Here is Adrian, grown up a bit since his famous secret diary. Now fifteen, and with O levels looming, he's trying to cope with parents who keep parting and having reconciliations.

His father's girlfriend has a baby, and moves in with Adrian's gran. His mother also has a baby and creates havoc at the social security officers when her giro-cheque fails to arrive. Meanwhile, Pandora continues to dominate Adrian's thoughts, but the unexpected arrival of an American friend threatens their relationship.

Like Secret Diary (the game - reviewed December 19/0), Growing Pains comes in the form of diary entries. It is interactive fiction of the 'multiple choice' variety, rather than an adventure proper. Every so often you get the opportunity to select what to do next, by number. For example, Adrian realises that he's never seen either a dead body or a female nipple. Should he (1)) Ask Pandora to show him one of hers: (2) Resign himself to ignorance: or 3) Ask Nigel for advice?

It's really like reading the book, with variations every time you make a decision. Random elements in the program, together with your choice of action, ensure that the game isn't the same every time around. Nor does it follow the Sue Townsend version entirely.

The format of the play demonstrates Level 9's excellent adventure system, adapted and used to good advantage in a way never originally intended. There are graphics, which don't add much to the proceedings, but at least this time the pictures are more relevant to the current subject. There's 'type-ahead'. or should I say 'read ahead'? And there's plenty of text to read, decompressed from a state of virtual dehydration. Even so, the game comes in four parts, each of which must be loaded sequentially when prompted.

But did I detect a glitch, or just a silly mistake in the narrative? The entry for December 31st refers to what is going on at school, and the sending of Christmas cards. And the bonfire party is held on Thursday November 4th.

The object is to become the most popular boy in the neighbourhood, and every so often your percentage score is displayed, together with a suitable description such as 'namby pamby schoolboy'.

But don't expect to solve puzzles to achieve a 100% rating - this must be played by intuition! It should please Mole fans everywhere - it is excellently produced. and full of humour.

Virgin
£9.95

Like the first Mole game (published some time ago), this has been programmed by Level 9 and is in a very similar style (the one also used for The Archers). Just in case you've been spending the past few years with your head in a bucket, Adrian Mole is an angst-ridden teenager who thinks he's a trendy intellectual (in fact he's naive and, frankly, square), has squabbling, unemployed parents and loves precocious Pandora. The phenomenally successful books (which spawned high-rating television series) were in diary format (which the game retains). The Growing Pains sees Adrian with 'O' Levels approaching, and is set around 1982-3, the time of the Falklands war.

The game is in four loads, each dealing with several months of Ade's life. Excerpts from his diary scroll up (there are some graphics, but they're well down to Level 9's abominable standard, abstract beyond belief and best turned off) until, after certain situations, you must choose one of three options as to what Adrian can d. This may well have the effect of causing more options to appear, as a whole sub-plot is pursued. The aim is to make Adrian as popular as possible (there's a percentage score and a rating); or you could try to do the opposite!

I don't think you'll understand this game if you know nothing about Adrian Mole, as there's no explanation in the instructions about who the characters you'll encounter are You don't have to be a Mole fanatic to appreciate the game though; I'm certainly not, yet I enjoyed it.

I think fans of the book will enjoy the game due to the chance to make Adrian act differently from the way he does on page. However, this means programmer Pete Austin has had to add totally new situations (the results of different choices); unfortunately some of these are not at all in the style of the book. What really annoyed me was his total disregard for the book's scrupulous period setting (it is a diary, after all). I wasn't very far from Adrian's age in 1982, so I was quite nostalgic of Sue Townsend's references to events such as the start of breakfast television (setting the alarm extra early!). Then it's ruined with a reference to Dirty Den (EastEnders began in 1985 for goodness sake!); or giving the option to see Jaws or Superman at the cinema (both were films of the seventies that wouldn't have been playing in 1982). Mr Austin should have done what all good authors do - research what he's writing about. I was also puzzled at some of the changes he made to Sue Townsend's original text. While tight memory obviously prevents the computer version being identical, in some instances Pete Austin has changed little details - like who said what, or a person's reactions - yet not made the diary entry noticeably shorter. Why? What gives Mr Austin the right to tamper with what many feel is a modern classic?

As I just hinted, the major problem with the transition from book to game is that due to memory restrictions, the text is severely pruned. This means many of the little observations are lost, along with much of the detail (such as letters); yet it was this detail which I liked so much with the book. You could read the book while playing the game but that seems a pointless exercise I can't help feeling this project should never have been attempted on cassette - disc should have been used (even if a Spectrum version was thus made impossible), and the complete book transferred.

One of the problems with The Archers game was contradicting storylines - a character you had sent away would immediately reappear. This doesn't happen with Adrian Mole mostly because few of the decisions are of long term importance if this game was more sophisticated, one decision could utterly alter the rest of the adventure, parts of the plot being made completely unfeasible. Again, a possibility if disc had been used.

As with The Archery Growing Pains has questionable durability, since after playing several times you'll have seen all it has to offer. The game is a fun extension of the books, and should offer some entertainment. But I feel that because it was impossible to do full justice to the original text (ie print it all), the project should not have been attempted.