Time and Magik - Level 9/Mandarin RRP œ19.95

Time and Magik is the third trilogy brought out by Level 9,
making up their last conversion of old 8-bit games to the Atari
ST. Unlike the previous trilogies, Jewels of Darkness and Silicon
Dreams, it was published by Mandarin not Rainbird and comes in a
rather flimsy, crushable cardboard package, not the solid box of
the other two which is rather a shame for those of us who like
our software to match - and last!!

The three games in the package are Lords of Time, Red Moon and
The Price of Magik and the trilogy recreates three key episodes
in the struggle to defend creation.  All the games are improved
versions of the original 8-bit adventures, with digitized
graphics, ram save, ram restore, undo/oops, a new parser and many
other features.

The package contains a novella by Peter McBride, which sets the
scene for each of the adventures though each also has its own
introduction when you start to play. The introductions are pretty
basic and the novella not only explains the stories a bit better
but also links the three together into a sensible series.

The first game, Lords of Time, was written by Sue Gazzard, not
the Austins. It starts in an ordinary room where you are sitting
using your computer to debug your latest program when there is a
blinding flash. In the room is a picture.  If you examine it, it
stirs and an old man steps out.

He is Father Time and sets you a daunting task. There are nine
other Timelords (he is designated the Timekeeper) and the others
have banded together in an effort to control Time. Through their
meddling, the course of Time has been perverted. In an effort to
stop them, the Timekeeper also started studying Time and built a
Timepiece, a grandfather clock that works like a time machine.

Finally, he confronted the Timelords and proposed an exchange of
information. If they would tell him what changes they had made to
Time, he would explain the workings of his machine.

The Lords agreed and proudly told him all the important things
they had done and he made notes on all of them. Now it was his
turn. Moving the hands of the clock, opening the door and setting
the pendulum swinging, he smiled as the clock vanished. One of
the Lords knew why; he had seen the Timekeeper drop a piece of
paper into the machine and read the words written on it.

It gave instructions for a list of items that needed to be
collected to defeat the Lords of Time. The Timekeeper's hope is
that some brave adventurer (you) will take up the challenge.
Each object (like the Timelords, there are nine in all) is marked
with the sign of the hourglass. You must collect them all and put
them into the cauldron at the end of Time.

In the next room is the grandfather clock and once you have
learnt to use it, you will be able to travel to nine different
time zones. These include Roman times, a futuristic scenario with
walkways, a prehistoric era where you will meet various dinosaurs
and a frozen wasteland.

In the second adventure, Red Moon, the sole active source of
magik is the Red Moon Crystal and the seven Timelords who
survived the events in Lords of Time had gone to Baskalos for it
was the only place where magik can still survive; a parallel
world where magik has replaced technology. They installed the
Crystal in a tower and, when conditions were right, joined their
powers to reactivate it. Through this, Baskalos became a powerful
region, full of magik, where the people thrived and wise kings
ruled.

Time passed and the Lords grew bored and restless. Seeking to
extend their powers, they experimented with the Crystal. Some
also desired sole ownership of the Crystal, together with the
power it would bring. Eventually, one of them stole it and fled
to ..... where?

You must search for and recover the Crystal, thus saving both our
world and Baskalos.  Magik, not unreasonably, plays a large part
in the game and there are several spells that you can cast. Each

has a focus and you must find the focus before you can cast the
spell.

For example, to cast the spell FIND, you need the lamp. The lamp
is conveniently placed near the first location. If you then
CAST FIND DULCIMER, you will be shown the location of the 
dulcimer, necessary to cast the ESCAPE spell.

Another facet of the game is combat. At various points of the
game, you will need to defeat other characters to progress.

Combat also plays a large part in the last part of the trilogy,
The Price of Magik. Following the recovery of the Red Moon
Crystal in the last game, the Crystal has been guarded for many
years but has now been stolen yet again, this time by a magician
called Myglar. He had been nominated as its guardian but the
temptation of having it all to himself was too great and, hoping
to gain eternal youth from it, he has locked himself away with
his treasured possession.

You must recover the Crystal, using magik as necessary. Various
spells will become available to you as you play. Through
examining things, you will see that some of them have letters on
them eg ESP. These are the spells but you will have to discover
the focus for each spell before you can use it.

Each time you come into contact with magik, by discovering a 
spell or performing certain actions, you will be told that your
sanity is shaken. Checking your inventory, you will not only be
told what you are carrying but also your sanity (you start 100%
sane but each time your sanity is shaken, your sanity decreases
by 2%), your rating (novice etc) and your age. For magik also 
ages you and the loss of your youth and your increasing madness
are the price of magik.

There are ways to offset these changes but they can only be used
a few times so you must use them wisely. As in Red Moon,
creatures will block your path at various places and you will
have to work out how to defeat them.

The only one of these games I have finished is Red Moon, and that
was on the spectrum. Lords of Time looks fascinating; I am very
keen on games where you move from one time zone to another so I
will definitely return to that. I almost completed  Price of
Magik on the spectrum too and enjoyed it as far as I got. The
whole set is well-written and designed and, like the other
trilogies, is excellent value for money, especially if you buy
it mail-order at a discount.

                                         Sue