Nightshade

Crash

Overall 27%

Will Brooker 27%

LOOKING FOR AN OLD ANGLE From Ultimate's classics to the cute and quirky Head Over Heels, we've had our arcade adventures in the strange 3-D of isometric perspective. But, says WILL BROOKER, some of those first tentative steps in the new dimension work better than today's glossy games. Way, way back when Hungry Horace was still a national hero, 3D Ant Attack sneaked out under the Quicksilva label. Its Softsolid graphics of the walled desert city Antescher were hailed as astounding, and 3D Ant Attack wedged itself firmly into Spectrum history as the first game with truly three-dimensional views. The next isometric blockbuster was Vortex's Android 2, released in the spring of 1984. In gameplay it's just a 3-D version of the old arcade game Berserk, but the graphics (which CRASH gave 96%) brought it up to this magazine's Game Of The Month standard. Programmer Costa Panayi followed this up with the impressive TLL - a fighter-plane simulation with a carefully worked-out dynamic playing area. There's not a lot of game behind it, but the flying is enough. The Softsolid technique was soon followed by the first 3-D 'adventure movie' - Hewson Consultants' The Legend Of Avalon. Its adventure element is a bit dubious, and the term 'arcade adventure' would be disputed for years after its release, but the game was a great success with its colourful, pseudoisometric graphics. In 1985 the spate of high-quality isometric games continued: Ultimate's classic Knight Lore was followed by another Vortex game, Highway Encounter, and the next technical advance was Filmation 2. An Ultimate invention, this allows graphics of Knight Lore's quality to be scrolled smoothly over a large playing area. Filmation 2 was used for Ultimate's Nightshade, but was soon knocked into a cocked hat by The Edge's Fairlight. Even back in the golden year of 1986 there were unimaginative clones which sometimes threatened to swamp all the review pages with their identical, and by then extremely boring, isometric screens. But some games brought a breath of fresh air to the already tired genre: the humorous Sweevo's World from Gargoyle Games, Ocean's surprise hit M.O.V.I.E, and Hewson's Quazatron. A Spectrum version of the Commodore 64 hit Paradroid, Quazatron amazed everyone by being superior to the original. Not so original but also well-implemented was Ocean's Batman, and Quicksilva's Glider Rider deserves a mention along with Design Design's Rogue Trooper for taking a gamble and nearly succeeding. Last year Ocean had a megahit with Head Over Heels, M.A.D. had a budget Smash with Amaurote, and Gargoyle brought out the first (and probably last) Hydromation game, Hydrofool - the sequel to Sweevo's World. CRL's 3D Gamemaker utility now enables everyone to rewrite Knight Lore, and last November saw the first real isometric adventure, Incentive's Karyssia. Of course, whether isometric perspective presents a 'true' 3-D view is arguable - the player in these games is 'positioned'somewhere up in the air, outside the playing area, so any game using the technique looks forced, like a technical drawing. Though its representation of object and rooms may be highly effective, if we're going to nit-pick we can't say isometric perspective gives a realistic view. But the technique has proved perfectly satisfactory for countless games, and it's pointless to damn them all for lack of realism. More significantly, it will be interesting to see if the market for isometric graphics ever dries up, and if the public will one day reject the genre as outdated and overused, just as it once refused to accept any more Pacman clones. 3D ANT ATTACK Quicksilva 87% Issue 1 'One day, one year, one hour,'says the introduction. He and She arrived in the walled city of Antescher, 'the signature of a long dead race, the city lost from the world of men for days without number'. But the Ants of Antescher now have your partner (either He or She - unfortunately, this admirably nonsexist feature is undermined by the program's always calling you a 'hero'), and your job is to rescue him or her with the help of some heavy-duty grenades. Complete one level and the foolish girl (or boy) goes and gets herself (or himself) captured again, but this time further away from the starting position. Well, that's life... Back in late 1983 when nobody worried about glaring white backgrounds, UDG-sized graphics and poor sound, 3D Ant Attack was a wonder to behold. But even if you overlook these faults the fact remains that there isn't much gameplay, and what there is soon grows repetitive. Next to modern software, 3D Ant Attack looks rather dismal. TLL Vortex 81% Issue 7 TLL involves navigating a landscape sprinkled with houses, pylons, cliffs and bridges in order to eliminate 'enemy dots'. This top-priority procedure (you don't know how dangerous enemy dots can be if you let them get out of hand) is carried out by swooping low over the ground (hence the title - Tornado Low Level). You always run the risk of crumping your fighter against an obstacle, and once five of the dastardly dots have been wiped out a new mission begins - it's on the same landscape, but this time those devils are hiding below bridges and in the water and all sorts of underhand places. TLL was seen as a masterpiece when it first appeared, and its appeal has hardly diminished since. The landscape is described in effective, clean washes of colour and the fighter is well-drawn, rotating smoothly. The whole thing handles really well and though destroying evil dots is a bit of an artificial exercise the dynamics of the game come together perfectly. Perhaps more a simulation than an arcade game, TLL would, I'm sure, still do well at a budget price. HEAD OVER HEELS Ocean 97% Issue 39 'The best Ritman/Drummond game yet - it's even better than Batman!' said Crash. We read on: 'cuddly',' cute'. I agree; and that's probably what puts me off Head Over Heels. I can do without poisonous Marmite jars, stuffed rabbits, reincarnation fish and doughnuts, especially when their purpose in the game bears no relation to their appearance (why should stuffed rabbits give you extra abilities?). The scenario is unoriginal (two spies from the planet Freedom are out to destroy the Evil Empire), and the graphics look like something you see on early-teatime children's ITV (not that I watch it). Yes, they're detailed and well-animated; yes, they're cute if you like that sort of thing; but there's nothing to link them all together. As isometric arcade adventures go this is probably the best of its kind - there are lots of features, and the graphics are technically the best yet - but no way is it 'the ultimate game'. I like mine a little less silly and with a lot more logic behind them. KNIGHTLORE Ultimate 94% Issue 12 'Sheer perfection,' enthused the anonymous CRASH reviewers of way back at the sight of Knight Lore's Filmation graphics. The Filmation technique allows your sprite to physically interact with onscreen objects in almost any way, and with Knight Lore, the tenuously-related sequel to Underwurlde and Sabre Wulf, Ultimate's programmers surpassed themselves. In this thrilling instalment Sabreman (the player) must brave the castle of the wizard Melkhior to find the ingredients of the potion that will cure his sudden lycanthropy (Ultimate's instructions take the form of an epic poem, but manage to say nearly the same thing). Fail, and you must remain the werewolf forever - but so what? He's a dam sight cuter than Sabreman. Melkhior's castle is divided into rooms full of traps, structures and useful objects, all of which can be manoeuvred using Filmation. The avalanche of isometric games in this style has lessened the impact of Knight Lore's graphics. Today they seem rather plain and simple, though the old Ultimate touches still stand out (the sprite looking warily over his shoulder, for example). The game itself is a little unsophisticated for our times, too: essentially it's just a set of Manic Miner-type problems of timing, jumping and avoiding, and Filmation only comes in useful for making higher leaps. Still, Knight Lore deserves some recognition for having started off the isometric-arcade-adventure genre proper - it's just a pay the subsequent deluge was so heavy. BATMAN Ocean 93% Issue 28 Crash's Overall comment described this as 'a neatly finished game which does Batman proud'. But Ocean took all the Batman mythos and promptly forgot about it in an (admittedly commercially successful) attempt to cash in on Alien 8 etc - this game has nothing to do with Batman. Even the main character graphic shows a squat little figure who looks more like a Smurf than the Caped Crusader. And the Batcave has become some sort of architectural monstrosity furnished with conveyor belts and spiked floors and populated by creatures ranging from puppy dogs to lion-headed mutants. Maybe he's had it redone, but it never looked that way in the comics, the TV series, the films and the graphic novels. All that aside, Batman is quite a good game. The graphics and animation are superior to Ultimate's, and the Bat Devices and Batpills which give Fatman extra abilities add interest to the gameplay. In fact, leave out the pseudoBatman scenario and title and I'm quite content with this. NIGHTSHADE Ultimate 91% Issue 21 Nightshade just scraped into the Smash bracket, and the autumn 1985 release is now generally considered to have marked the beginning of the end for the former masters of Spectrum software at Ultimate. The gameplay is similar to Atic Atac's: wandering around the playing area (in this case a medieval town) destroying materialising nasties and collecting 'super antibodies' to kill off the four major villains. But the real star of Nightshade is the Filmation 2 technique, which scrolls the highly - detailed buildings about and lets you effectively see through the walls in a cut-away view whenever you pass behind them. It's become a cliche that 'the trouble with Ultimate's games is that they have great graphics but no game bolted on', but in this case it's undeniably true. Though the pseudomedieval atmosphere is strong and the characters are well-animated, Nightshade is extremely boring. It eventually bolls down to searching in vain for the major villains, just for the dubious thrill of getting killed by them instead of by lesser monsters for a change. HIGHWAY ENCOUNTER Vortex 95% Issue 20 You're a lone Vorton droid, pushing a highly brainfrying explosive device to the far end of an alien highway to blow up an enemy base. The road is populated by various aliens resembling anglepoise lamps and other dangerous household items (I gave them all names once but that was ages ago), and floating mines weave across the tarmac in dances of death. Your only strategy is to block up or kill off the nasties on your first run, and then go back to get your slave droids and the bomb. Highway Encounter's graphics are still impressive today; as in TLL, the combination of flat background colour and detailed monochrome overlays works very effectively. All the roadside scenery is beautifully drawn, from the crops in the fields to the golden sands of the beach. The only trouble with the game is its difficulty. I still wonder at Crash's comment of the time 'it will be easy to complete and I will probably get bored with it' - after 2.5 years I still can't clear the 30 zones and get the bomb to its destination within the time limit. But Highway Encounter looks great (better, in fact, than it s sequel - Vortex's Alien Highway, 88%/Issue 29) and would probably still sell as a budget game. QUAZATRON Hewson 94% Issue 29 As Klepto, a psychotic young droid with a penchant for taking things apart, you have been volunteered to get the mutant droids out of Quazatron, a multilevelled underground citadel of ramps and lifts. Klepto starts with a measly pulse laser but can collect extra weaponry by ramming other droids and entering a grapple sequence - really a subgame. A test of strategy and reflexes decides who wins the grappling duel. If you successfully grapple another droid you can take any available weapons; if you lose, the consequences are usually fatal. As you upgrade your weapons you can take on ever more powerful opponents, till you become the top dog -and then it's time to move on to the next citadel. 'Quazatron is a true masterpiece,' said Crash at the time, and the comment is still valid. Apart from the rather jerky scrolling everything is faultless: the graphics, the music, the FX and the gameplay. Quazatron is a successful fusion of strategy and arcade and deserves all the recognition it's had. ROGUE TROOPER Piranha 79% Issue 36 This licence is based on the early Rogue trooper stories from the comic 2000AD. Rogue is, as usual, trudging around Nu Earth, this time looking for the eight vid-tapes which show how the Traitor organised the destruction of the rest of the GIs (you have to know the strip to follow the scenario, really). Nu Earth, which seems to have shrunk a little in conversion from comic to computer, is patrolled by Norts and littered with ammo, med-packs - and, of course, the tapes. And Rogue's biochipped buddies Gunnar, Helm and Bagman give onscreen advice which isn't always particularly useful (Gunnar rarely says anything more inspiring than 'Let's grease some more Nort scum'). When all the evidence has been collected Rogue can return to the shuttle and wait for Cam Kennedy to draw him some more identical stories (oops! that just slipped out). Despite the extremely tacky presentation, this is an enjoyable game. It's not hard to win, which may put some off, but it provides relaxing therapy when you need your confidence boosted a little. The graphics are detailed, varied and recognisable, and though the colour washes are used simply they add interest. Perhaps Rogue Trooper's strongest point is the atmosphere generated by the graphics and the comments; it is, surprisingly, the most faithful 2000A0 conversion yet.

Sinclair User

Overall 8/10

Tony Dillon 8/10

Label: Ricochet Author: Ultimate Price: £1.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Tony Dillon Now he's back, in Nightshade. Yes, in Nightshade you take the role of the guy with the funny hat who has to clear a town of disease by collecting the antibodies and slinging them at the germs found in various buildings dotted around. The animation is crisp, as with all Ultimate filmation games, with one difference in this town, it scrolls, not flips. The graphics are excellent too, with some funny spots. All round, a totally sponditious game. Right on Rick (O'Shea).

Your Spectrum

Teresa Maughan

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE Plague and pestilence, death and destruction. You'll find them all in Ultimate's newie, Nightshade. Sounds like a job for Sabreman - with help from Teresa Maughan! Imagine a deserted village, lost in time, enveloped by an evil force. Here, hideously foul creatures roam the streets, flesh falling from their rotting bodies. Sounds like the new Michael Jackson video, eh? It's actually the scenario for Nightshade. The game is set in a world of death and decay. The only life forms are mad monks, gruesome ghouls, deadly demons and mutant monsters. It's your awesome task to release the Kingdom of Nightshade from the grips of an evil curse that's brought plague to the land. There are four objects for you to locate that'll wipe out the four main nasties and lift the curse. Sounds simple, huh? Well, you'll have to avoid swarms of nasties such as lethal germs, gyrating blobs and maniacal meanies. Touch them and they'll infect you with the fatal disease - but fortunately you don't die straight away, you just turn a bit of a funny colour! To defend yourself, you must go inside the rooms and collect various antibodies to fire at the nasties - but be warned, you've gotta be quick on the trigger. The graphics are well up to the usual Ultimate standard. The village is built up of beautifully drawn houses - and as you enter them the walls disappear so you can check up on all that's happening inside. The gooks and goblins don't have the evil aspect that the scenario suggests but they sure are some of the cutest you're ever likely to encounter. And the scrolling is nothing short of superb - you won't have seen it faster or more flicker-free. It has to be said, though, that Nightshade is a couple of steps back from Alien 8 and Knight Lore. As an arcade adventure, the adventure element is almost non-existent - the game is much more a good of shoot 'em-up with the added excitement of 3D scrolling and a vast area to wander around in. Trouble is you may find the game becomes tedious unless you're heavily into mindless alien bashing. But having said that, you have to remember that Ultimate hasn't yet come up with a naff game - and though Nightshade's not their best, it certainly can't be classed as a duffer.

At least the scenery's pleasant, even if the inhabitants aren't! There's a whole mini-town to explore if you get tired of zapping those aliens. 'Them bones, them bones. them dry bones!' The hammer's the thing to fend off this foul fiend of a skeleton... Spooky man! Even the skeleton's scared of this spook. Use your bible to dispel this spirit or you'll find he'll turn you into a ghoulash... Once wiped out, the dastardly demons will change colour... the mad monk has gone a putrid shade of purple, what a nasty habit! Back to the biology lab to learn about the four types of antibodies. Spirals, spinners, globes and bubbles - sound more like fun fair props than deadly weapons! Their effectiveness varies, so just keep blasting!

Don't be tempted - this monster's tantalising touch will leave you feeling mighty queasy! Attack with an anti-body and be warned, it takes a lot to kill of these Kenn Dodd look-alikes. Potion Power! This special brew refreshes the parts other potions can't reach. You'll feel like a new man again after just one sup! Go easy though, this liquor is pretty scarce. What kills all known germs dead? Spirals of course! These particular antibodies are wafting about in various rooms, so stand in a corner if you want increased antibody attraction. Who's this handsome beast? My, it's you of course! - Sporting a rather fetching helmet and looking like you're ready for anything... On second thoughts, all those furtive glances over the shoulder make you seem pretty paranoid! These strange-looking blobs are you collection of antibodies. Let them attack the baddies' defences to protect yourself, but remember to keep your supply well topped-up.

These boots sure weren't made for walkin'. Step on this to give your weary pins a boost! Now you can hot-foot it round the village in double quick time without falling prey to the local nasties. This chap may look harmless, but watch him shift! Shooting him only gets him out the way for a few seconds, and what's worse, he'll soon be joined by a bunch of cronies. The objects tend to blend in with the background, so keep your eyes opened! Yikes, it's the hooded-monk, not a very Holy one either. He's just one of the demons you've got to destroy using either the cross, the hammer, the bible or the egg-timer. If you didn't get your Scouts or Brownies orienteering bade, then there's a compass to help you locate the objects. That's fine if you've got time to use the thing! Cross your heart and hope not to die! Take up the cross and search out that mad monk. The cross'll flash when he's near, so you can home in for the kill. Don't get trigger happy as you'll destroy the cross before he appears...

This 'Gremlins reject' ain't as much fun as he looks. Just watch him multiply and go on the rampage! Don't shoot with spirals - spinners are your best bet here. This jelly-like blob is rife with some vile disease, so keep your distance. Stay out of reach of the germs, acid pools and spikers too... they're not nice! You could find yourself turning yellow... then green if you're not killed outright by one of these dreaded creatures... Yuk! This is your hit list - go for that mad monk, the grim reaper, the ghost and the skeleton! When you've blasted the lot, they'll be plunged into a fearful black abyss and you'll be freed from the evil curse... until the next game! Losing a life is a colourful experience - you'll go a wonderful shade of blue. Once you've lost five lives, it's curtains!

Sinclair User

Latest in the saga of Sabre Man takes him into a haunted village. The 3D graphics of Knight Lore are juiced up further to display the streets of Nightshade, with colour and an ingenious transparent wall system to allow you to see into the narrow lanes. Enter buildings and collect weapons to rid the village of the evil that infests it. Monsters run riot, and are in Ultimate's best grotesque tradition. Nightshade is fast, very much a zap game compared to recent offerings, and clearly another winner. A year ago, Ultimate reigned supreme - can the graphics wizards hold their place at the top? Nightshade makes it a close battle.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Graphics 9/10

Sound 9/10

Value 9/10

Playability 10/10

THE ULTMATE PLAY THE GAME REVIEWS Well, what do you expect from the Ultimate computer games magazine? Here we present the two latest Ultimate blockbusters. One for the Spectrum and one for the 64. Plus a special Nightshade map and tips from C+VG readers Paul and Rebecca Harding from Bromley in Kent. Read the reviews, check out the map - then get the games. We make life simple for you, don't we? MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: Ultimate PRICE: £9.95 Well, they've done it again! Just when you thought Ultimate had squeezed the last out of their famous 3D maze/puzzle games, the C+VG Golden Joystick award winners pull something new out of the bag. Ultimate's latest is set in a strange plague ridden village called Nightshade. The village has been blighted by an evil force which has transformed the villagers into a bunch of demons, vampires and other foul creatures. Your job is to lift the curse on the village. Simple, eh? No, not really! In true Ultimate style the solution to the cursed village is left entirely up to the player. The graphics - mysterious deserted half timbered houses and odd assorted demons are great. Sound effects are up to standard for the virtually dumb Spectrum and game play is just great fun. Actually a brief spin among the monsters and I've discovered that your brave adventurer can pick up antibodies from within the haunted houses to protect himself. You can use them to zap a few monsters. Contact with the minor monsters drains your strength - but should you come into contact with the nasty Mr Grimreaper you're done for. Another nice touch is that you can switch your angle of view with a touch of a key. Useful to prevent monsters creeping up behind you. Nightshade is another instant classic from Ultimate - it'll keep you guessing for some time. But how long can they keep using a similar format for their games?

1. Always try to find a collonade. It will help you work out where you are. 2. Try to build up a good supply of antibodies before you set out. 3. Never travel very far without an antibody. 4. Try to keep weapons - hammer, bible, cross and egg timer - at the bottom of your weapons rack with several antibodies above. 5. NEVER shoot a weapon unless you are sure you've got the right target. 6. Weapons in your rack will flash when the monsters they will kill are near. The hammer kills the Skeleton, the Bible kills the Ghost, the Cross kills the Monk and the Egg-Timer kills Mr Grimreaper. 7. Winged boots make you move faster. 8. First the bad news. The baddies are horrible disease ridden things. Touch them and you'll catch something. From white you turn yellow, then green - one more touch and you're DEAD. 9. Now the good news - potions make you well again. 10. Potions and boots are often found near collonades. 11. Antibodies can be found in every room. But not corridors. 12. If a fire spirit appears, DON'T stick around. It will head straight for you. 13. Some antibodies will kill some baddies outright. Others will just change their form (See IDEAS CENTRAL). 14. For each monster you kill with a weapon, you get a huge 250,000 points. 15. Pressing Z or Shift will reverse your view. 16. You'll find more hints and tips and a Nightshade monster chart on the IDEAS CENTRAL page.

CrashCrash Smash

Use of Computer 82%

Graphics 94%

Playability 92%

Getting Started 74%

Addictive Qualities 86%

Value For Money 90%

Overall 91%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: Ultimate Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £9.99 Language: Machine code Author: Rare Ltd Many moons ago in a hidden valley between the purple mountains and the seas of the Seven Islands there was a great calamity: darkness descended upon that land, evil overran all that was good and death and hunger spread. Those who remained became twisted and striken with evil and the village in that valley became possessed with powers so black that nobody dared enter. Years later the story became leg end and only the songs and tales remained of those who had tried to enter the valley never to return... for those who trespass into the village become enslaved by the immense power of the evil Overlord. After listening to the story of the battle with the forces of evil in the Nightshade village one night, you decide to set off down the valley... and thus the scene is set for the latest Ultimate game. Nightshade is yet another arcade adventure utilising similar 'Filmation' programming techniques to those in Knight Lore and Alien 8. This gives a realistic 3D panoramic view of what's going on around you. The program differs from the last two games in that the scenery scrolls rather than 'flicks' as you move from one location to another and there are no objects which you can shunt about and use whilst playing. The game itself is set in a typical mediaeval village, complete with ancient looking houses, streets, barns, churches and the like. As you walk down the streets you can see the facias of the buildings in detail, with walls, gables and windows. If you like the look of a building then you can enter it through its door. When you do so the front of the buildinp will disappear showing what is behind - useful as it lets you see what you're doing. Most of the buildings are connected so you can travel from one to the other by moving through the series of doors and rooms inside. Many of the buildings also have back doors allowing you to go through to the street behind. Throughout the village there are loads of marauding thingies which rush after you and try to take one of your five men. Each man can be hit three times by a nasty, the fourth touch will resu it in him being lost. When you start with a new life he is white, when hit again he turns yellow, then green; the next touch after that turns him into a puff of smoke and he disappears. The marauding thingies are all excellently animated and vary from small jelly like bacteria which slide along the ground to huge gremlin types which give chase waving their arms and generally disport themselves in a loathesome and revolting manner. Your man looks a little like the knight from Atic Atac and he's extremely well animated as he wanders about. There are some nice touches too: for instance when he bangs into a wall he puts his hands up to protect himself. He's not defenceless either and can throw things at the nasties to protect himself as he travels around. These 'antibodies' (varying from sticks to what looks like the end of a mace) can be picked up from the rooms of just about any building. Running over them will automatically put them into a tube at the side of the screen. The tube only holds a limited number of objects so it has to be replenished very regularly to increase your (very slim) chances of survival. There are extra lives which can be picked up and there are also boots which, when collected, allow you to run at high speeds for a short while. When you throw an antibody at a nasty it doesn't always kill it straight off. Some of the bigger ones need to be shot several times with an antibody. The gremlin, for example, splits into two smaller creatures which again have to be shot. The smaller creatures then turn into a bubbling mess which still gives chase until shot for the final time. Thankfully you don't have to go through this rigmarole every time you shoot something - most, like the flames, smaller sliding things and squat, toad-like creatures die immediately after being shot once. The object of the game is to find and pick up the four super antibodies (bible, hammer, cross and egg timer). Once found you have to track down the four evil characters which run the show (the monk, the skeleton, the ghost and Mr Grimreaper) and throw the correct super antibody at it. If you can do that then the village will be freed from the evil which has ruled there for so long and everybody will live happily ever after... until the next Ultimate game, anyway! COMMENTS Control keys: X/V/N left, C/B/M right, A/S/D/F/G forward, Q/W/E/R/T fire, CAPS SHIFT/BREAK SPACE pause Joystick: Kempston, Cursor, Sinclair Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: excellent Graphics: excellent Sound: good Skill levels: one Lives: five Screens: a closely guarded secret, it seems

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Your Computer

Overall 3/5

Meirion Jones 3/5

Spectrum Ultimate Arcade Adventure £9.95 "Very pretty" splutter the wretched cynics from SlamBang Software every time Ultimate launches a new masterpiece "but" and here you sniff a whiff of vinegar "it's not a game". Well Nightshade is the prettiest show from the Zouche with Filmation II allowing you to smoothly scroll where no Spectrum has scrolled before. As your knight errant walks through the 3D village maze, walls disappear leaving a line on the floor to remind you not to bump your nose. You must collect four charms to wipe out four plagues but your quest is hampered by some of the zaniest monsters ever. These range from lower forms - lampshades, fizzers, slimes and blobs and supermonsters including a Chelsea supporter - well it looks like one, waving a scarf above its head, except that it has not noticed that the scarf has been knicked so it still gormlessly waves its mits in the air - mohicans, mini-mohicans and owls. Stop reading now if you want to stay honest. Otherwise - you can collect a stack of antibodies to fire at monsters. Antibodies come in four delicious flavours - maces, spinning crosses, whirlpools and cucumber slices. Any of these will kill the lowlife but beware if you hit an owl with a mace or a mohican with a whirlpool, a hooligan with a cucumber or a mini-moke with a cross, they turn into lowlife. Firing a cucumber at an owl turns it into a mohican which splits to cause double trouble if you hit it again. Likewise whirlpools turn mini-mokes into owls and split on a second hit, while crosses turn mohicans into hooligans before splitting, and maces turn hooligans into mini-mokes which split. Stepping on a banana skin speeds you up and bottles restore your life. I said this genetic engineering sounded dangerous. And so to the plagues. An egg-timer will kill the grim reaper, hammer kills skeleton, crucifix kills monk and bible kills ghost. When you are close to your target the charm flashes. So much for problem-solving. Very pretty, technically brilliant, but ultimately not much of a game. Nightshade has finally turned this Alien 8 fanatic into a cynic.

Nightshade - does Ultimate play the game?

Sinclair User

Overall 5/5

Chris Bourne 5/5

Publisher: Ultimate Price: £9.95 Memory: 48K Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair, cursor Here comes Ultimate once more with the continuing saga of Sabre Man. Nightshade is, as you might have begun to suspect, more of the same - the brilliant 3D graphics system of Knight Lore and Alien 8 juiced up and improved to simulate a mediaeval village. Somehow the programmers have managed to get colour into the screens. In order to see your little hero in the narrow village lanes one or two walls drop out of the picture, remaining as white lines on the screen. That system does, however, allow for some wonderfully detailed views of inns, barns and the like. As usual with Ultimate there is little information on what you are supposed to do. The village is said to have been possessed by a great evil, which turned the inhabitants into werewolves and other hideous creatures. Those monsters are some of the best yet, coming in a tremendous variety of shapes. Your weapons lie in the village rooms and you collect various missiles to stock up your ammunition. Some will not do you much good - there are monsters which transmute into others if hit, or split into two, and it's going to take you some time to establish which does what to whom. Meanwhile, there are four hyper-nasties - a mad monk, a skeleton, a ghost, and Mr Grimreaper, death himself. They are scattered about the village, and must, we suppose, be sought out and destroyed, presumably with four special objects, the eggtimer, Bible, Hammer and Cross. The game is well-paced - very much an arcade-style production compared to the logic puzzles of the two earlier Filmation games. On the other hand, there is a sense of deja vu creeping into Ultimate games. It's now well over a year since Sabre Man first appeared, and the concept is wearing a little thin. Nightshade looks a lot different from Knight Lore and Alien 8, but not so different as to stifle doubts that Ultimate may be running out of steam. Or dare we hope for something really special this side of Christmas?

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online