ZORK II - Infocom/Virgin Mastertronic œ9.99
          (Text adventure for ST, Amiga, PC) 

               Reviewed by Joan Dunn

ZORK  II takes place in an underground empire,  where you  go  in 
search  of treasure and adventure.  Many have ventured into  this 
maze of caverns and tunnels and have never returned.  Are you the 
fearless adventurer who can defeat The Wizard of Frobozz?

You  have  worked your way successfully through  the  underground 
world of ZORK I,  collected all the treasures - not without  some 
difficulty - and now you have found your way into the barrow, and 
on to the wonder of ZORK II.  Perhaps you have not played ZORK I, 
but have  come   directly  to  ZORK  II?  They  can   be   played 
independently, but I do feel that they follow on so well one from 
the  other  that  you miss some of the  atmosphere,  rather  like 
starting a serial thriller part way through.

You  start ZORK II with the familiar lantern and sword  that  you 
had  in the first game.  From the barrow you wander down  through 
tunnels and caverns,  across a shallow ford and branch off either 
into a garden, or southwest to a Carousel room,

This room has many exits, but the difficulty you face is that the
room, as  the  name  suggests, is  continually  moving.  You  can 
therefore  not depend on arriving in a certain location when  you 
move in any one direction.  It's all a matter of chance. Later in 
the game you find a way of preventing this happening and life  is 
then much easier.

As usual in Infocom games there are plenty of puzzles,  some easy 
and  some  very  tricky.  You meet many  characters  including  a 
princess, (who is helpful), a dragon, a lizard's head embedded in 
a wall, (I never managed to locate his body) and a dog with three 
heads - a real pet once you give him what he wants.

Of  course  you are also plagued by the  wizard.  He  appears  at 
random  and seems slightly mad.  He waves his wand and  utters  a 
different word beginning with F each time. I started writing them 
down in case they were useful,  but soon decided that this was  a 
sheer waste of time.  Then he would just disappear, but sometimes 
he  would  put  a spell on you and leave  you  disorientated  and 
floating  in  mid air - most  inconvenient if you  want  to  move 
around. However the effect wears off after a while.

This  is a friendly game and you are helped with  information  at 
various  points.  The text is well written and the  locations  so 
well described that you feel you are really there.

A great game that I'm sure it will appeal to all, I was certainly 
sorry when I came to the very exciting end.

But now I have ZORK III to tackle,  so my lantern is lit and  I'm 
once more descending into the darkness. I wonder what lies ahead, 
and whether I shall ever return....