Transylvanian Tower - Personal Computer News 6

Computer: Dragon 32
Price: £6.50 (Cassette)
Publisher: Richard Shepherd
Reviewer: Mike Gerrard
Rating: 5/5

Bat Battle

Hot on the wheels of the original text-only adventure games, where you merrily tapped in NORTH, SOUTH or more frequently HELP, have come the 3D adventures, where you can actually see where you are, and the directions you can move in. What next, one wonders? Being dragged from the keyboard and pushed out into the real world?

I for one don't want to get any closer to a Transylvanian dungeon than this simulation, thank you very much.

Objectives

Each of the five floors of the tower in this game is made up of a hundred rooms. Naturally, you start in the dungeon, on the bottom floor, and as far from the exit as possible.

On the first level there are no objects to hunt for, and no bats or other nasties to fend off, so it's a good way of getting used to the movements you make with the arrow keys.

Your objective is to make your way safely to the fifth level for your encounter with Count Kreepie who bears a startling resemblance to Sir Keith Joseph, so this is not recommended to those of a nervous disposition.

First Impressions

As with most games of this type, the instructions are fairly detailed. But everything is fully explained on the cassette insert, and then again on the screen when the tape is LOADed.

In Play

Once you've been set down in the dungeon you use the arrow keys to take you from room to room through whichever dark door you choose. The 6 key will turn you through 90 degrees, so pressing it twice turns you round completely.

But it's only when you get out of the dungeon that your troubles really begin. You start finding objects, such as garlic, a cloak, a dagger and a sword, and can carry up to three of these, but you also begin to encounter bats, which flit about the top of the room while you try to shoot them down.

You could easily leave them and move on to the next room, but in the first place only bats carry maps from here on in, and in the second place you have to kill a certain number before you can move to the next floor. If you reach the exit without the required tally of dead bats, you'll be moved back to a random room on the same level. This is not a good thing.

Verdict

Transylvanian Tower is an excellent game at a reasonable price, and should stand the test of repeated playing, despite the drawback of the slow maze construction. I couldn't progress beyond Level 3, where I was seen off by an unexpected vampire while I wasn't carrying a clove of garlic.

Rating

Lasting Appeal 4/5
Playability 3/5
Use Of Machine 5/5
Overall Value 5/5