Producer: Melbourne House
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: John Jones-Steele

The cassette inlay proclaims 'The Classic Adventure continues'. And so it does, as not only is this offering from the same author as Melbourne House's Classic Adventure (based almost entirely on the famous mainframe program) but it marks a return to traditional values in adventuring - puzzles galore, text compression to ensure a worthy length and the complete absence of pictures that might otherwise use up precious memory.

You wouldn't need a marketing executive to tell you that the best way to spruce up a text adventure is to redesign the character set and that's what we have here. Further, 40 characters a line, justified for a square, neat look, and a dash of attractive colouring convince the player someone has taken the time to get the appearance just right. As for the substance, here again, there is much to admire. The location descriptions are long, detailed and well-written. The plot is entertaining and each part of the story is interesting and imaginative. Offering six lives to save the player starting all over again each time a life is lost is a super idea.

Your quest is awe inspiring enough, to save the universe, and this is achieved by recovering the lost components of an immortality machine. The machine's owner is Mordon, the Ancient One, who appears before you early on, shrouded in light. Finding Mordon while you play is not so easy and needs a little wandering before he finally reveals himself. The exit from the curiously familiar house in which you find yourself leads into a mist-filled jungle where you encounter quicksand and many other sticky situations. You finally stumble into the ruins of an ancient city which conceals many old relics beneath its dust, such as pieces of machinery and old coins. These spare parts and treasures are very significant as your SCORE is comprised of these alongside the number of turns taken so far. On through caves, tunnels and jungles and seemingly thousands of years pass with each step as you are transported into a fantastic future world of perspex domes, flashing lights and ambient music.

The nuts and bolts of this adventure are on the whole encouraging, with the text compression allowing long narratives - the speech of Mordon lasts two full pages. Take this first location description for example. 'You are in the master bedroom, despite the richness of the bed and the oriental carpet underfoot, the room is sparsely decorated. An indefinable atmosphere permeates the room, as if some great tragedy once occurred here. Tall sash windows face north and west. Large double doors open to the south'.

However, some aspects are unusual or perhaps even disappointing. I have previously stated an opinion on non-standard vocabulary so no two guesses for what I think about a game which chooses to use WHERE for LOOK when trying to redescribe a location or to see the result of some action, like switching on a torch. The EXAMINE command does not prove as useful as it might, and what is more, it is not error checked so EXAMINE XXX and EXAMINE TRANSPORTER both throw up 'You can see nothing special'. Most problems are logical but the first, which leads to the apparition of Mordon, is illogical and arbitrary.

There are many humorous interludes to your deadly serious quest of saving the known universe. I'll leave it to you to discover the consequences of EXAMINE ASHES or KILLing the carnivorous PLANT. More fun can be had in the cannibal's hut while you desperately try to find a way out.

Mordon's Quest is a traditional adventure and is in many ways an updated supplement to Classic Adventure from the same author. Due to extensive text compression the game is -long - over 150 locations with a vocabulary of over 400 words. After playing many much more fanciful efforts this summer I very much enjoyed this game as it has long, atmospheric descriptions and the puzzles have been ingeniously interwoven into a fascinating fabric of clues and apparent dead ends. If you enjoyed Classic Adventure you'll like this one.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: moderate
Graphics: none
Presentation: reasonably neat and readable, uses 40 characters per row
Input facility: accepts sentences
Response: very fast

So, Melbourne House claims that this, their latest text-only adventure comes from the same authors as Classic Adventure... same programmers, yes, but it's certainly not written by that famous duo, Crowther and Woods, who started us all off way back, with their Collossal Caves - of which Classic Adventure's a very good copy.

So, following this gripe about the hype, I've got to admit that Mordon's Quest ain't all bad and should keep you occupied for many hours.

What's the plot, then? Well, fairly novel really - you've been chosen to save the world by finding and returning a number of strange devices to Mordon. Your quest takes you through many different times and cultures where you'll pick up other valuable treasures - a sort of mythical antiques roadshow!

Follow the usual adventurers guidelines and you won't go far wrong. Map your progress from the start, try all directions and if you get lost in the fog, pop back indoors for a breather.

You'll find that the puzzles are all pretty logical and combined with the large number of locations and vocabulary, you won't get that 'I've wasted my money' feeling. Oh, and one last tip - remember that the sword is sometimes mightier than the pen!

THE HAUNTED HOUSE finds himself in limbo as he looks for a time machine.

Most months the games sent in for review tend to be a mixed bag and usually only one or two stand out from the general run of average productions. This month is exceptional as all five programs reviewed are either excellent, value for money, break new ground or restate old values. Whatever the depth of your pocket you should find at least one that suits you or your wallet.

MORDON'S QUEST
Publisher: Melbourne House
Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95

The large scale text-only game has gone underground lately and graphics have come forward as the favoured element in adventures. Mordon's Quest bucks this trend and is a welcome return, with long flavoursome descriptions and a vast feeling of space.

The program is a sequel to Melbourne House's Classic Adventure and is written by the same author, John Jones-Steele. There are over 150 locations and, according to the blurb, more than 400 words in the vocabulary. The presentation is a restful white text on a black background with your inputs scrolling up in yellow.

The quest begins in a strange and sparsely furnished house set in the swirling mists of a time limbo. Logical exploration reveals little at first but, if you are curious enough, a fall from a height will leave you nauseous and predisposed to concussed visions. So appears Mordon the Ancient One, swathed in light. He asks you to take on the search for the lost pieces of an immortality device - your success will save the universe from assured destruction.

With the aid of a transporter unit and torch you set off into the mists. Sure enough you quickly enter a steaming jungle full of ancient ruins. After passing the mandatory patch of quicksand, you will run into a cannibal pygmy who can be disposed of by making a weapon from the bits and pieces found lying around in the jungle. Don't forget the pygmy as you journey - the carnivorous plants can be placated by a spot of judicious feeding!

The search now begins in earnest and, though you will discover some treasure and the first part of Mordon's machine quite quickly, you'll need to put in some serious thinking to progress into the other areas of the game.

The descriptions are excellent, full of atmosphere and needing no pictures to help them. When you arrive at the temple in the heart of the ruinous city you see a lake... "you walk to the lake and dive in. After swimming for several minutes you find yourself at a small outcrop of black rock. Looking around you, you see the perfect circle of the lake, surrounded by the ruined city and in turn the lush jungle. As you view the scenery you feel almost as if you are standing at the centre of a beautiful all-seeing eye."

This literate and evocative text is typical of the game as a whole and the detail encourages exploration and experiment. I have no doubt that many clues are hidden in this wealth of description. Don't think of the lack of graphics as a loss - just give three cheers for text compression and expect some good hunting!

Once in a while, along comes an adventure which halts family life for a few weeks, the sort that demands attention night and day until all its secrets are unfolded, all its locations explored, and all its treasures safely stored!

Mordon's Quest is one of that rare breed. It is a game with so much text and so many locations that it is difficult to believe that it comes on tape.

The objective, which you are called upon to fulfill by Mordon himself, should you find him, is to retrieve the seven component parts of a machine designed to perpetuate reality, which was broken up by Bostafer in a greedy attempt to gain immortality. As well as finding parts of the machine, there are treasures to be collected en route as your reward.

The game commences in a fairly ordinary house with an unusual bathroom. There are a couple of locked doors that provide frustration, and since there seems to be little of interest other than a blanket and a newspaper, outside is where the action must be. Trouble is, the weather is rather inclement and the house is enveloped in all varieties of mist, fog, and mist mixed with fog.

The adventurer is well advised to take shelter again after thoroughly exploring the exterior, for then a chink of light may appear to help the player penetrate the swirling clouds!

Arriving coldfoot in the jungle, the way leads along a twisting, turning path. As the path narrows, the plot thickens like Daddy's Sauce (and you know who is HIS favourite) as two simultaneous problems prevent onward movement for the explorer.

This is the point where one family, at least, was all set to stay up for the night, until the errant son Neil arrived home from a school trip to the Commodity Exchange - and I think the commodity was lager!

"Solve the problem, Neil!" I commanded wearing my all-powerful wizard's hat. And he did - just like that!

As well has having plenty of text, Mordon's Quest also has many of those deliciously funny and exciting surprises that make an adventure a pleasure to play, always interesting and never predictable.

After the brush with the little chef and his lethal cuisine, I was all set to relax for a while. But suddenly, "A muscular bronze skinned man wearing a loin cloth leaps from the trees and, holding a knife at your throat, says: "Hello ducks! You must be the new adventurer I've heard so much about."

He goes on to demand that I guess who is the king of the jungle - three wronguns and it's heads he wins! "The lion!" I reply confidently. "Not in THIS jungle he isn't!" says Tarzan.

On and on through the jungle, and soon the adventure appears to close up at a dead end. But something quite revolutionary lies in wait, pointed to by an apparent flaw in directional logic.

Before long I was applying some pressure to the problem, and was soon enjoying a refreshing if dangerous swim, and exploring a complex of metallic corridors.

A nice feature is that the player is allowed six lives, so if killed through some foolhardy deed, the game can be continued from that point just as if it had been saved.

There are over 150 locations in this text only game, and all of them well described. Although not all are useful by way of being essential to the problems, they do contribute to a very realistic atmosphere, painting the picture far more effectively than any graphics could do. Oh happy purist!

The response is machine-code fast, and the vocabulary large. Over 400 words are claimed. Most commands can be of two words only, but some full sentences are possible too, although I have the feeling that the trailing words are stripped off and the sense derived from the first two.

This leads me to my only criticism - the replies, or some of them. If neither word of a command is recognised, then the computer will reply PARDON? If one word is recognised and the other is not, then the reply is YOU CAN'T.

Since this is also the reply to fully valid commands that are invalid actions in the game, it becomes a little confusing in trying to sort out whether it is the intended action that is not possible, or whether different vocabulary is required.

HELP always produces TRY DRAWING A MAP, and would best be removed altogether, for it is rarely want of a map that halts an adventurer's progress!

Mordon's Quest is an exciting and humourous adventure with a range of problems from the "think a bit" to the "head banger" variety.

It is from Melbourne House, and available for 48K Spectrum, Amstrad and Commodore 64, priced £6.95. A very reasonable price for an adventure of this quality. I have no hesitation in recommending it to hardened adventurers.

Oh, and by the way - if you still can't unlock that door south of the landing, don't worry! You may have better luck in Bostafer's Revenge, the sequel which is promised shortly, and which you're sure to want after playing this one!

Spectrum/CBM-64/Amstrad
Melbourne House
£6.95

From John Jones-Steele, the author of Melbourne House's popular Classic Adventure, comes this superb new text adventure. It has over 150 locations, a vocabulary of more than 400 words and uses clever text-compression techniques.

You begin in the master bedroom of a house, having just fallen out of a four-poster bed. Mordon, one of the Seven Lords of Realities, soon appears to tell you that a power-crazed Lord has broken up a life-controlling machine and dispersed its seven component parts through time and space. Your task is to seek out the pieces and return them to the house.

Armed with blanket, torch and transporter unit, your soon in a jungle where the quest begins in earnest. Quicksand, a carnivorous plant which can't be killed - it's a protected species! - and a pygmy's hut - complete with AA, plate and knife symbols - are the first of many challenging problems.

With its detailed atmospheric text and touches of humour, Mordon's Quest guarantees many hours of stimulating pleasure.

Melbourne House
£6.95

The cassette inlay for Melbourne House's new adventure Mordon's Quest claims 'the Classic Adventure continues...' for, this new game is written by the author of their original Classic Adventure. The game is aspiring to high standards, whether it reaches those standards or becomes as popular as Classic Adventure remains to be seen.

The task set in this adventure is quite daunting - simply to save the entire universe from destruction! You find yourself in a mysterious and atmospheric house, and after wandering around it a bit Mordon puts in an appearance. He then gives a speech filling two screens, which tells you the aim of the adventure. Your quest is to retrieve all the lost components of Mordon's precious immortality machine and bring them to him. To fail in this quest means the destruction of the universe, how exactly this will come about Mordon isn't telling. After this he disappears as rapidly as he appeared.

The adventure contains over 150 locations, all described by several lines of text, with no graphics. The location descriptions are very informative and detailed, and laden with atmosphere. It is very easy to visualise the rooms in the house, even the rather gaudy purple bathroom!

Soon, though, you have to leave the house and venture into the mist filled country side. If you find your way through the fog and mist (and it is very easy to get lost!) you should eventually come to a jungle. This is where things start getting tricky, with encounters with Quicksand smelling like old socks, and a man-eating plant protected by a conservation order! Once past these obstacles you may come across a hut which has a sign over the door displaying the letters A.A. and a plate and cutlery. Be warned - this may not be what you think!

In fact, in Mordon's Quest, nothing is ever exactly what you think. The adventure has the habit of throwing surprises at you from all directions, particularly once you reach the ruined city. As you move further into the adventure you seem to shift in time by thousands of years, ending up in a sparkling fantastic future world with perspex domes, flashing lights, and, of all things, ambient music! This clever twist of moving the player not only in space but also in time gives an interesting twist to what could have been another standard adventure.

Mordon's Quest is a very welcome throwback to the basics of a standard adventure game along the lines of Classic Adventure. It has none of the extra and often unnecessary frills which have become common in adventure games of late, such as memory wasting graphics, or highly interactive characters. Without these there is room for lengthier location descriptions which give this game an atmosphere missing from many more advanced adventures. Melbourne House, after the sophistication of The Hobbit and Sherlock have returned to basics for Mordon's Quest, and I believe it works well. That is not to say that this is a 'basic' game. It is a highly complicated adventure which will suit experienced adventurers who don't need pretty pictures to back up their imagination. The use of sophisticated text compression routines has made the puzzles in Mordon's Quest very challenging and complex, with very descriptive location text which gives the game a heavy atmosphere.

If you enjoy challenging, text only adventures, which may take several weeks to complete, then Mordon's Quest is for you. It really is an adventure in the classic style.