@~Two reviews this issue for Simon the Sorcerer, from Paul Vincent
@~and Joan Dunn.

        Simon the Sorcerer - Adventure Soft RRP œ39.99
            (Graphic adventure for PC and Amiga)

1. Reviewed by Joan Dunn on PC

The story starts on Simon's 12th. birthday. He rather fancies
himself as a magician and during his party he performs his many
tricks ... not all of them turn out as planned. However, out of
the hat he pulls a rather scruffy dog, he decides to call him
Chippy. In the attic he finds a trunk and a spellbook. Then a
sparkling hole appears and Simon and the dog climb through it
arriving in the middle of a party of very hungry goblins. "Ah,"
exclaims the chief, "Lunch." In no time at all they have Simon in
a cauldron and are busy bringing him to the boil. But they have
not reckoned on Chippy, who arrives in the nick of time and bites
the chief. Lunch is then postponed indefinitely.

Simon then finds himself in the wizard's cottage, where there is a
letter from Calypso, the Grand High Wizard. He has been captured
by Sordid, an evil magician and he is hoping Simon will rescue
him. First, he writes, Simon must himself become a wizard and
Calypso tells him he will find a group of old wizards in the local
tavern who will help him ... So this is the first thing you must
do, go to the tavern and talk to the wizards.

The manual gives you all the necessary information on playing the
game. At the bottom of the screen are a list of available verbs
and items in Simon's inventory. You just click on the verb or
object enabling you to interact with this object. You can
USE, WEAR or REMOVE things and of course PICK UP, OPEN or CLOSE
anything. You, as Simon, can talk to people and usually you are
given a list of sentences from which to direct the conversation.
In your inventory you have a map and if you select USE MAP you can
then click on any location and arrive there immediately ... a big
time saver. There is also a Postcard and USE POSTCARD gives you
the option of SAVE, LOAD, QUIT or CONTINUE.

... And so to the game and the wizards. They are willing to help
you to become a wizard, but first you must find the magical staff
that has been lost.  You wander around the village picking up
anything you find and then into the forest. Here you will find
characters to talk to and some to help, they in turn will then
help you. There is a wise owl and he will give you various hints
which will come in handy later. There are a number of interesting
people including a giant, a troll, and a witch and many others.
Everybody wants you to bring them something and then they will do
something for you in return.

I was well and truly stuck in the house by the swamp. There you
meet a swampling and it's his birthday. He has made a revolting
swamp stew and insists on you eating bowl after bowl, (Watch
Simon's face turn green!) Here I was doing quite the wrong thing
and eventually just fled the house leaving something important
undone and a location missed!

There are lots of puzzles and they are really good, solving one
often giving you the means to tackle the next one.

The graphics and animation are superb. Simon's movements as he
walks, climbs and jumps are first rate and in the forest you can
see animals and birds moving about which adds to the realism.
Everything he picks up he puts under his hat, as he says "It's a
good job I have a big hat." The game is very amusing, at one time
you have an Alice In Wonderland situation and become very small.
Make sure you let the frog swallow you at least once ... the
sequence then is so funny.

The final scenes were quite satisfactory although rather short. My
only grumble was when I finished the game ... big sigh! However
they do mention a sequel, so I must have words with SHE WHO KNOWS
(her across the road) Do get this game it is well worth it.

@~For any new readers who don't understand the 'her across the
@~road' reference, Joan is my Mum and also lives in Warwick Road.
------------------------------------------------------------------


2. Amiga version reviewed by Paul Vincent

Animated graphic adventures have come a long way since the early
King's Quest games, with ever more gorgeous backgrounds, ever less
irritating soundtracks, and user-interfaces increasingly aimed at
eliminating questions such as "How do I tell it to ...?" and
"What's that badly-drawn squiggly thing supposed to be?". This
recent game from AdventureSoft rises successfully to the
challenging standard set by Monkey Island 2, introduces a few new
innovations of its own, and possesses a sense of humour which is
profoundly British, not to say severely twisted.

The control system is easy and a joy to use. The bottom part of
the screen is divided into a list of verbs (Talk To, Open, Pick
Up, Look At etc) on the left, and small-but-clear pictures of any
held objects on the right. The main, upper screen area contains
the beautifully drawn, well-animated current location. Whenever
the cursor moves over an object (on the main screen or in the
inventory), the name of the object appears in a strip-window below
the main scene, making it easy to search around for manipulable
objects. This system should be familiar to anyone who's played
LucasArts adventures, and is very smoothly implemented here.

The deliberately vague scenario in the extremely funny and
well-written game manual pretty much leaves you to fathom out for
yourself just what the eponymous hero is supposed to do (other
than getting home to his own reality, that is). The wizard
Calypso, who presumably can help you return home, if you can find
him, helpfully leaves you a letter offering the services of his
faithful dog.  Unfortunately, said pooch is fast asleep in
Calypso's cottage, and Simon steadfastly refuses to wake it,
telling you he hasn't got the heart to do so. Oh well. Better go
into the nearby village and see if anyone can tell you what's
going on ...

Investigating the local tavern provides not only some much-needed
information, but also an excellent example of the humour I
referred to earlier. In a back room of the tavern are four
colourfully dressed old fogies, heatedly debating the finer points
of what turns out to be a game of Mah Jong. Just standing there
watching their bafflingly obscure conversation unfold is hilarious
in its own right - especially when you realise they'll carry on
all day if you don't make your presence known! Talking to them is
easy - simply click on "Talk To" in the verb list, then click on
the animal, vegetable or mineral you wish to address (it's worth
clicking on unlikely verb objects just to witness some of the
nicely sarcastic responses!) and then choose from a menu of
possible conversational gambits, which leads to further choices ad
infinitum.

You'll quickly learn that Sordid the Sorcerer has done something
unspeakable to Calypso the Wizard - hence the latter's
inconvenient absence. You'll need to become a wizard yourself to
free him, and this involves carrying out a mission to prove
yourself worthy of guild membership. At first the Mah Jong addicts
won't admit to being wizards: "What makes you think WE are
wizards?", they ask. You, of course, click on the reply "Because
it says 'Wizards' when I move the mouse pointer over you!". This
Pythonesque, self-mocking style of humour quickly becomes a
feature of the game and further examples quoted here would only
spoil the fun of discovering them for yourself. I'll only mention
in passing that the industrial dispute between the Bridge Troll
and the Three Billy Goats Gruff is a classic - adventuredom's
answer to the Dead Parrot sketch!

This is an immense adventure, so the quick and easy gamesave
mechanism (you simply "Use" the Postcard found in the starting
location) will get plenty of use before the game is completed, as
will the Map feature. Using the map (also found near the start)
causes a sketch-map of the game world to be displayed. Any "major
locations" you've already visited are represented by coloured
icons.  Click on one of these and - unless you're currently
imprisoned or otherwise immobilised - you will instantly be
transported to the selected location. This is a great idea which
eliminates one of the most common shortcomings of graphic
adventures, namely the slow tedious process of moving to a
location several screens away.

Puzzles are plentiful and varied. They range from fairly obvious
to the quite tricky, but are never wilfully obscure, and will
generally yield to a good night's sleep and a dash of lateral
thinking. They also provide several moments of high (and low!)
comedy.

A reasonably-varied soundtrack adds a welcome finishing touch,
whilst AdventureSoft's provision of an early-evening helpline
service should ensure that everyone gets to see the whole show
eventually. Being a Brummie myself, it's particularly pleasing to
be able to conclude by recommending Birmingham-based
AdventureSoft's latest as being even slicker and funnier than
either of the Monkey Island adventures. An essential purchase for
all but the most intractable text-only hardliners!

A sequel is promised for Christmas 1994, so start writing those
Christmas lists ...




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