A Holiday to Remember

The Games Machine

Overall 59%

Rob Steel 59%

Spectrum Cassette: £2.99 The hero's name in A Holiday To Remember is Malcolm WrightNutter but I resisted the temptation to leave such a game on the shelf for the rest of its natural, and plunged in. It transpires that Malcolm's less-than-normal uncle has invited him to visit, but when the young Wright-Nutter arrives his uncle's house has been destroyed and there is no sign of the eccentric relation. Malcolm's mission is to find out what has happened and why. A Holiday To Remember has been put together quite well; there are no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, and the graphics are bearable, though the choice of paper and ink colours is a little glaring. The only serious problem is typical of home-grown adventures: the lack of reality. I can accept the plot quite happily - it's the ingredients, such as carrying around a Gatling gun (used by the gardener to shoot moles) and finding a mine cart in a tunnel with no trace of a track, which jar. One particular location west of the house makes a big deal of mentioning that the player can go no further west because of a high wall which is covered by an ivy plant, but the parser does not understand wall, ivy, climb or plant... what's the point of emphasising certain items if they have no bearing on the game? And A Holiday To Remember is supposed to be a two-parter but part two wouldn't load for me. Still, despite some irritations the game is worth considering at its low price.