WIZARD OF OZ A Spectrum Text Adventure for the PC/ST/Amiga from Zenobi Software. Author: Jack Lockerby Review by Bev Truter on PC (under Spectrum emulation). Well, after being sent this game by Sue to play and review, it took me about a fortnight to pluck up the courage to try and get the hang of the emulation thinggie necessary to run Wizard. I am not famed for my knowledge of things technical, and I know as much about playing emulated games on my trusty old 286 as the average goldfish. So I dutifully plodded through all the .DOC and .TXT files (Whew! So far, so good; nothing too complicated there), and had a go at installing the shareware version of the Z80 emulator, conveniently supplied with Wizard on the same disk. (Uh Oh! Monitor informs me there's not enough memory, and that I should use the "-xt switch.) Oops. What is the mysterious "-xt switch??? Goes back to reading the Z80.DOC file. Aha! Problem solved by typing "Z80 -?"; this gives a listing of all the available switches that can be used with the command "Z80", and why you might need some of them. My beloved old 286 couldn't come up with the goods in the memory department, so the -xt switch runs and loads the program using as little memory as possible. Crosses fingers and types "Z80 -xt", and lo and behold! We have lift-off! The thing actually works! Choosing options from the self-explanatory menu screen was a breeze after the nerve-shattering beginning, and soon the initial screen of this old Speccy adventure was there, in all its glory. Well, there I was, faced with my first ever screenful of text from a Spectrum game. The layout was different to the usual PC text adventures, with the room description occupying the top third of the screen, followed by a bar showing all available directions or exits. The lower half of the screen is for player input and response. The text colour is vibrant yellow on a black background, with the "exits" bar in white. The first thing that leaps out at you visually is the enormous text size, the next noticeable thing was the very s-l-o-w typing speed required if you want to enter commands fully - I frequently found the odd letter missing here and there from my input, so you really do have to consciously slow down your typing to cope with this lack of speed in the program's running; but then that might have been due to my 286, and possibly it would run faster on a 386 or higher PC. But then again, perhaps not - I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the Z80 emulator runs Spectrum games at 46.1% of the "normal" speed on the PC. Directions for movement are shortened to the usual N,S,W,E etc., and you can either Enter or Leave certain locations. Typing "Score" gives you your points as a percentage, and also shows how many moves you've taken to achieve it. "Examine" has been mercifully shortened to "x", but if you want to "Look" at anything, the full look command is required. For those unfamiliar with the old classic book/film "The Wizard of Oz", here's a brief outline of the Introduction to the game. Dorothy lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on a farm in the great Kansas prairies - a vast expanse of flat-lands subject to frequent cyclones and sudden storms. Uncle Henry was proud of his ability to predict the coming of a cyclone well before it arrived. He put it down to a 'knack' and the rheumatics in his left leg, but no matter what it was, it generally proved effective. Also living on the farm were a number of animals and a small dog called Toto. Normally Dorothy and Toto were inseparable, but on this occasion the dog had been found chasing the hens, and had been tied up out of harm's way. This particular morning Uncle Henry announced that a big cyclone was on its way, and judging by the extent of his rheumatic twinges, this cyclone was going to be a beauty. Dorothy was given instructions to make everything ready around the house, and Uncle Henry dashed off to see to the animals. I found the gameplay in Wizard maddeningly difficult to begin with. After a whole week (!) of playing, I had only discovered 7 locations and 2 objects - pretty feeble, I thought. Then the penny dropped. I remembered the golden rule when playing old C64 games - the solution to a problem is always simpler than you think, or rather, phrased more simply than you'd expect. So off I went again, into the Farmyard, clutching my pot of stew, which I knew had to be eaten either by Toto or myself/Dorothy. Where the whole range of inputs, eg, eat stew, pour stew, feed dog, feed stew to dog, drop stew, give stew to dog, had proved unsuccessful, the one that eventually did the trick was "empty pot". A similar problem arises when trying to open a jammed cupboard door with a crowbar - all the logical inputs you try fail miserably, and finally in desperation and temper "hit cupboard" works. By this time I was so enraged at my inability to open the stupid cupboard, I promptly turned on Toto and had a go at him with the crowbar - I'm sure Dorothy wouldn't approve - but all the parser could come up with was "you can't do that". Just as well, I suppose. After surviving the cyclone and arriving in Munchkin Land, the game definitely improves, and from here on I enjoyed playing Wizard. Perhaps because I'd finally come to terms with the quirks of the parser and the style of the game. Anyhow, after collecting the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion, you all go trotting off to see the Wizard of Oz with your assorted problems and requests, following the YBR (yellow brick road) to Emerald City. Hmmm - seems like there's a bit of a problem with the old YBR. (Makes mental note to visit the Children's Section in local Library and borrow the book..). This game is certainly not huge at just under 60 locations, but seems lengthier than that, due to the slow running of the program. Interaction between you and the three other characters is necessary for solving many problems, and they all respond obligingly to short commands from you, eg.(hypothetical!) "Lion eat scarecrow", or "Scarecrow bite witch". All of them except Toto that is, who seems particularly useless - looks like he's only there as decoration. (Perhaps my assault with the crowbar dampened his enthusiasm?). At least one problem needs a thorough reading of the relevant chapter in the book, because the solution is fairly obscure; and although the game doesn't follow the plot of the book exactly, it's close enough for you to find the book (by Frank Baum) very handy. Spelling, grammar and expression are all mistake-free, and locations mostly have shortish but adequate descriptions. I found the game a bit too saccharine and cute to begin with, then later on plenty of slaughtering of the local wildlife is required - a rather odd combination of cuteness and indiscriminate killing. But these literary peculiarities in the storyline weren't Jack Lockerby's fault, he's been limited by following the style and flavour of the original story. The book, and the film, were never favourites of mine as a child, perhaps because of this uneasy mixture of sentiments. Overall, this computer version is an interesting reworking of the original classic. ENJOYMENT: 5/10 ATMOSPHERE: 4.5/10 LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: 5.5/10 FINAL COMMENT: Try this one if you want a well-written game and a bit of a wallow in nostalgia. @~Available through Zenobi Software for œ2.99, 26 Spotland Tops, @~Cutgate, Rochdale, Lancs, Ol12 7NX. - o -