Scott Johnston
£3.75 cass

On a planet very similar to our own there's a village called Delvhorn. To strangers it appears to be just another rural paradise, but it hides a terrible secret. In a nearby castle there is an evil entity patiently waiting for the time when it will engulf the land in flames. As the brave hero Dervorin I must reclaim the magical locket which the evil force stole from my sister. This allows the wearer to master all evil powers (although it didn't help my sister much!) and will enable me to save the local countryside.

Arriving in the village, I follow my instincts to quickly find the local pub. Damn, I left my wallet at home and the barman doesn't have a slate. But what's this on the bar? A tatty old book -it may be of some use so I stuff it down my trousers while no one's looking. The chances of anyone buying me a drink seem remote so I go upstairs to explore the rest of the inn. Peering round a bedroom door I spy the innkeeper's beautiful daughter lying on the bed. Coyly, she enquires, 'Is that a book down your trousers or are you just pleased to see me?'. After showing her what's really down there, she gives me a magical jewel and tells me to meet her in the woods to activate its power! On the way there I encounter an unfriendly blacksmith, a cave, and unfortunately, a pack of starving wolves.

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

Lightmare is impressive in just one area: presentation. Many of the locations are illustrated by a tiny, but detailed, picture. This adds to the medieval atmosphere created by the text. Sadly, the adventure itself fails to live up to its professional appearance. Response to input is painfully slow and the verb/noun parser is none too friendly. Objects may only be examined when carried. This is made more irritating by the fact that you can only carry up to a certain weight. For instance, to search a heavy dead body you must first drop all objects, pick up the corpse, examine it to find a coin; then drop it, get the coin and all the other objects again. Luckily there's a GET ALL command!

I wasn't too impressed with Lightmare, but if you fancy battling against evil, it's available from Scott Johnston at 4 Barden, Place, Moniftefh, Dundee, DD5 4TN.