Tower of Evil

Crash

Use of Computer 85%

Graphics 86%

Playability 88%

Getting Started 92%

Addictive Qualities 90%

Value For Money 80%

Overall 87%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Creative Sparks Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £6.95 Language: Machine code Author: J. K. Wilson Creative Sparks is a new software company in name at least, in fact it's really Thorn EMI with a new front. They have released two new games for the Spectrum this month. Tower of Evil is a very fast arcade game not unlike Atic Atac in concept. It isn't as complex either in the graphics or the scope, but it isn't simple. You play the hero, Andros, who has been banished from court until he recaptures the King's treasure from a wicked Necromancer and his minions. The game is played out in the Tower of Evil, which consists of five floors, each with nine rooms. There are nine treasures to be collected. Each floor contains a treasure, a key and possibly a goblet containing one of two potions, one will grant temporary invincibility and the other increases the strength of your firepower. To get from one level to another, you must be in possession of the key. Red doors lead upwards, and blue ones go down. This is fairly important because there is a chest on the bottom floor, into which treasure must be placed if it's to be kept safe. Loss of life on a floor will mean key and treasure being lost, so it's worth going down to the chest to store it, especially as you get points for collecting treasure rather than for shooting the minions. Between each floor there are firepits to cross. Andros must run along a floor, leap two pits, move up a level, leap two more and repeat the process on a third before emerging on a new storey of the Tower. At the same time the evil Guardian is hurling fireballs, across the pits. Each floor has its own dangers, Beelzebubs on the first, which twitter about the place in hordes, trying to hem you in; Valfors on the second which do the same but shoot back; Xaphans on floor 3; Demi-Clones on the fourth, and flying Baphonets on the fifth. Andros is able to fire in the direction of movement. On each floor the rooms are connected by doors, which tend to be the most dangerous place to hover, since the nasties come flying through at high speed, and straight into you. COMMENTS Control keys: Q/A up/down, O/P left/right, bottom row jump/fire Joystick: Kempston ZX 2 Keyboard play: highly responsive Use of colour: good Graphics: fast, smooth, generally very good Sound: good tune, none during game Skill levels: progressive by floor Lives: 5 Screens: 10 with nine rooms per screen

Loads of meanies, tons of nasties and bucketsful of beasties -

a warm welcome in the Tower of Evil.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition