A green dragon and a red, fire-breathing ogre are on Darance Island, searching for five Roc's eggs which they will need to obtain the golden egg. To find these eggs, it is necessary to enter towns and villages and pulverise every building to dust with either your fists or your fiery breath – nothing will stand in your way! You can replenish your fire by eating burgers (!), but unfortunately it seems that there is no way to replenish your energy, and with all the enemies on the screen at the same time, you won't last long. The graphics are wonderful, but the sound effects are poor and the gameplay wears rather thin after a while. There's also a beat-'em-up between the dragon and the ogre after every level which adds nothing to the game.

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5

La Abadía del Crimen
(Opera Soft, 1988)
Reviewed by Javier Sáez

This game takes Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose to your CPC. William of Baskerville, helped by his apprentice Adso, must solve the mysterious deaths that are taking place in the abbey but also, being a monk himself, he has to cope with the strict routine that rules the abbey. La Abadía del Crimen has very nice isometric graphics, good sound, and a deep, complex plot. It's the best Spanish game of all time without question, but unfortunately, it was never released outside Spain.

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10

This platform game is one of the first Dinamic creations. You take control of Johnny Jones, who's trapped inside an Egyptian pyramid and has been cursed and turned into a big headed creature. Your task is to give Johnny back his human shape so he can get out of the pyramid. You guessed right, it won't be an easy task; as a matter of fact, finishing this game is an honour reserved only to the best (although it's not impossible). Avoid everything but some Egyptian symbols that work as keys and locks, make your way to the chamber where the Pharaoh lies, and remember 'wait, see, and calculate'. The game has nice, colourful graphics, at least for the time, but it would have been nice to hear a tune throughout the game. It's worth giving it a try, but it's better if you have infinite lives... and infinite patience!

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6

After a Gal-Corp trainee pilot accidentally crashed into a nuclear reactor, the Gal-Corp Academy for Advanced Skimmer Pilots was formed. To qualify as an élite pilot, you must complete five levels, each containing four missions, successfully by attaining an average rating of at least 90%. This is the sequel to Tau Ceti and it offers several new features. The most notable one is the ability to design your own skimmers, as the three models already provided may not be suitable for certain missions. There is also a greater variety of enemies, and you can also use delay bombs – but be careful with them! Like Tau Ceti, the gameplay can initially be frustrating as your skimmer will be blown up a lot in your first few attempts, but perseverance will eventually pay off and you'll discover a great game.

See also: Tau Ceti.

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8

I'm not a great fan of flight sims, so I was pleasantly surprised when I loaded the game and was greeted with a nicely drawn options screen showing a sergeant major-type pointing his baton at the various missions to choose from. Equally nice briefing and weapon selection screens follow, along with some cartoon-like photos of the hero running to his 'plane and taking off. The sound effects are also very impressive – but when the real game starts, it all goes to hell. As far as sound goes, all you get is a constant drone. (It actually hurts your ears!) The graphics are dull (just the inside of the cockpit and a few hills rolling by), and the game is ridiculously hard. Once you get your compass blown out, you just drift forever until you get shot down! A real disappointment.

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5

The US Secret Command has asked you to carry out five dangerous missions which take you into enemy territory. Each mission consists of two parts. In the first part, you drive a motorbike along a road, shooting the enemy vehicles and collecting pods, which turns the motorbike into a car (pretty impressive, eh?). Collect some more pods and you enter the second part. The car now becomes a jet-car and the action takes place in the air. Throughout each mission, lorries and helicopters appear, and entering them gives you power-ups for your vehicle. The graphics are very impressive indeed and the sound effects are fairly good as well. However, the missions are far too long and take what seems like an eternity to complete – if you manage to complete them, of course.

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6

Based on a Marvel comic, this shoot-'em-up lets you control a helicopter to fight against COBRA, a terrorist organisation. You have to destroy enemy 'planes and place bridges so that the jeep you're escorting can reach its destination. The graphics are colourful but rather simple. Controlling the helicopter isn't easy, because you must permanently push your joystick forward to keep it flying, while avoiding enemy fire. Otherwise, it will crash to the ground (as in Airwolf). Also, you've only got one life! Eventually, the game isn't fun enough to keep you trying for very long.

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4

The space station Antari is drifting in space, taken over by hostile lifeforms. The seven nuclear fuel rods that power the ship are scattered about its many rooms. An activator pod (that's you) has been sent to collect them all and put them back in the power chamber where they belong. The concept of the game is rather simple – just explore a maze and shoot aliens as you go along. However, to gain access to certain parts of the maze, you'll need the right key. The graphics are simple but functional, and the sound effects are limited to exploding noises when you shoot aliens. Even so, it's not a bad game, and you've got plenty of lives to do it.

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7

The Addams Family
(Ocean, 1992)

Gomez has to rescue the other five members of his family, who have got lost in their own house (!). The Addams' house is quite large, however, and doors will need to be unlocked by finding the right colour of key. Some of the monsters can also be killed by jumping on them. The graphics are very well drawn and the tune is a good rendition of the Addams Family theme, although it only plays on the menu screen. The sound effects in the game are still OK, though. It is a difficult game, though, but you get a generous amount of retries – nine lives and five continues.

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8

24 nations take part in the Adidas Championships. You can choose any of them in your bid to become the Adidas Champion. The championship is divided into six groups of four nations, and the teams in each group are picked at random. Another player can also take part in the proceedings. You can choose formations and match lengths, from 4 to 16 minutes. The graphics and music are quite good, but the gameplay is a bit of a let-down. Controlling the ball as you run down the field is very tricky indeed, and passing is also a problem, because selecting the power of your kick is cumbersome. You can't play in any friendly matches, either. It's a good-looking but disappointing football game.

See also: Adidas Championship Tie Break.

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5