The Challenge and The Thief - River Software RRP œ4.95
        (Two text-only STACed adventures on one disk)

There can't be many Spectrum (and, to a lesser extent) Commodore
adventurers who haven't come across the River Software range of
adventures in the past. Now, some of them are being converted to
the ST using STAC. There's already been a review of the Domes of
Sha Tri-pack in Issue 1 of SynTax.  Now there is another pack on
the market, this time of two adventures, The Challenge and The
Thief.  Again, these are converted and extended Spectrum games,
though The Thief was originally known as Realm of Darkness.

Both games are written using STAC and though neither makes use of
the graphics capabilities of the package, they are none the worse
for that. For, as any River Software fan knows, their
descriptions are evocative enough to give a realistic atmosphere
without having to resort to pretty pictures!

What of the storylines? In The Challenge, you play Yarulla who
competes against the son of the recently-deceased chief of their
tribe to become the new leader. Pacheo, the heir, is an unpopular
coward and bully whereas you are the good guy and the natural
choice of the people. But, in order to prove yourself, you have
to bring back a fabulous blue stone from the land of the bears
and reptiles and also a complete sacred medallion. You are given
one half of the medallion at the start and Pacheo the other.
Naturally, Pacheo will resort to dirty tricks in order to win so
you'll have to be alert to beat him.

At the start of The Thief, you are a retired adventurer on
holiday on a small island. When the King's most valuable
treasures are stolen, you are the natural choice to try to find
them. Well, who wanted to retire, anyway?!  Being told that you
may keep any of the other valuables you find during your quest
makes it even more appealing. Unfortunately, because there's a
thief at large, you'll have to be very careful where you drop any
of your possessions if you ever expect to see them again.

As both games are text-only, any visual appeal has to come from
the appearance of the text, and colour has been put to good use
here with several colours used in each game. But the final effect
is not garish because muted shades have been used. The
atmosphere, as I mentioned before, is good. In The Challenge, the
initial scenes in the village are enlivened by messages given as
children play amongst the huts and as you walk along the side of
a river you're told "a large shape surfaces then slowly slips
beneath the surface, leaving hardly a ripple". Could a picture
say more? Not to me....

I think The Challenge is slightly easier than The Thief, but with
two adventures at such a reasonable price on one disk, there is
plenty to keep the most enthusiastic adventurer busy for a long
time. Even if you have previously seen the games on another
computer, you'll still enjoy them - The Thief, especially, is an
advance on the original. For those of you who come to them fresh,
I envy you ..... you're in for a real treat!

                                               Sue