Pork 1 - David Malmberg and Pork 2 - Bill Larkins
               (Two AGT text-only adventures)

I've always had a fondness for a good spoof adventure, which is
why I enjoyed Fergus McNeill's "Bored of the Rings" and "Robin of
Sherlock" on the Spectrum (I still have "The Boggit" to complete).
Pork 1 and 2 are parodies of the first two games in the famous
Zork trilogy and both have been written using the Adventure Game
Toolkit. Zork 1: The Great Underground Empire reappears as Pork 1:
The Great Underground Sewer System and Zork 2: The Wizard of
Frobozz becomes Pork 2: The Gizzard of Showbiz.

Let's look at each in turn. First of all, Pork 1. This was
converted and expanded by David Malmberg from an original BASIC
game by an unknown author. It sticks pretty closely to the
original in that you begin the game to the west of a small
boarded-up house with a little mailbox outside. A walk through the
surrounding forest will bring you to a large tree, just begging to
be climbed, and in another direction a nearby rainbow has an
object at its base which glitters enticingly at you. As in the
original, the aim is to collect several treasures and store them
in a vault inside the house.

But as soon as you enter the locations through the cellar in the
house, things start to look a bit different. The first thing you
can't fail to notice is that the troll from Zork 1 who blocked
your passage through one of the early junctions has been replaced
by a gigantic sumo wrestler who literally blocks all the exits.
Later on, you'll come across the Loud Room but the cause of your
problems in this room is very different from the original. Hell is
still there and you can take part in a hilarious guided tour
through its depths and meet some surprising inhabitants. I won't
say any more because it would spoil the joke.

Other characters and problems appear as expected .... well,
almost ... but one very unusual difference will become apparent
when you've played a fair way into the game. Again, I'm not
giving anything away. Try the game and discover it for yourself;
you won't be disappointed.

Pork 2 was written by Bill Larkins as an entry in the 1989 AGT
Competition and was given an honourable mention. As with Zork 2,
it begins where the previous game finished, with you and your
trusty lamp at the end of a tunnel but there is an extra story
behind the game. Apparently the Cajuin Fried Chicken House had just
received a delivery of chicken gizzards and as the waitress was
about to start frying them, one escaped. Getting a job in the
local burlesque theatre and donning top hat and tails, the giant
Chicken Gizzard has got a taste for show business and is
terrorizing the neighbourhood with its tapdancing routine. Your
aim is to sort out the Gizzard before it drives everyone crazy.

Again, there are similarities between this game and the original
but they are not so striking or so amusing as Pork 1 cf. Zork 1.
The Carousel Room is replaced by a Smoke-filled Room and one exit
will lead you to a Riddle Room and once through there, you will
have to find a way to go up in the world just as in Zork 2. The
Gizzard also has a series of spells to cast on you, all beginning
with "G" and they'll frustrate you just as much as the wizard of
Frobozz's "F" spells.  But other additions, including a Junkyard,
a Picnic Area and Parking Lot complete with a group of unfriendly
bikers destroy the atmosphere somewhat.

I almost forgot to mention - Pork 2 has both "tame" and "lewd"
modes with a quiz (1 question!) to stop any youngsters being
corrupted. Purely in the interest of being able to inform you
about the two modes, I tried the quiz - and couldn't answer it.
However, a quick dig through the datafile showed little to worry
about.

Both games are American Shareware and sell through SynTax's PD
section at œ2.50 each (unless you want to send a contribution on
disk and get one free!!) Having played the two games in rapid
succession, I would say that Pork 1 is the better of the two but
both games are a pleasant way to while away a bit of time.

                                        Sue