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apple/REVIEWS/GShisen.Review.txt

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+GShisen  *** 
+Freeware by Kelvin Sherlock 
+requires System 6.0.1 running on 1.25MB or larger Apple IIgs 
+   an accelerator board is recommended 
+  
+
+Like the West's playing cards, the beautiful tiles of China's Mahjongg
+just naturally inspire many uses. Thanks to Activision, one such
+application, Shanghai, has entertained us for countless hours since its
+release back in 1986. Battling the game's Dragon formations is a fine
+challenge; but, many dedicated players have, long ago, put away their
+cyber tiles. It is time for a new kind of formation and a new twist for
+the old challenge. So ... how about a nice game of Shisen?!
+
+Shisen, or, more correctly, "Shisen-Sho", uses all or most of the
+144-piece tile set. This can be the traditional Mahjongg design or, in
+GShisen, something new. As in Shanghai, you begin with a randomly
+generated arrangement and your goal is to clear the board of all tiles
+by matching and removing pairs. In Shisen, though, the tiles are formed
+into a single large rectangle.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Sherlock's application includes the "Standard" set shown above and an
+"Alphabet" set. So far there is at least one new user-created design,
+"Nuggets" which appears below in the move examples pics. The player can
+switch tile sets at any time during a game.
+
+Dimensions of the game rectangle vary from implementation to
+implementation. The Shisen done for the K Desktop Environment presents
+a 14 x 10 pattern. As shown above, GShisen places all 144 tiles-- four
+each of 36 figures-- in an 18 x 8 rectangle. Along the bottom of the
+screen you have elapsed playing time, Game Number, games won/games
+attempted, and number of tiles left on the board. When the first tile
+of a pair is selected its place darkens and a copy appears on the
+bottom of the screen to remind you which tile needs to be matched.
+
+Most likely, you've already guessed that Shisen's rules for matching
+and removing tiles are different from Shanghai's. In Shisen, creating
+matches depends upon making connections.
+
+
+
+
+
+You can remove any two identical tiles which can be connected by an
+imaginary line which does not pass through any other tile. The catch is
+that the line must have no more than three horizontal or vertical
+segments. So, any two identical tiles on a side-- like the
+Six-Blue-Spot tiles in the full screen pic-- are an 'obvious' match. As
+shown in the Game C pic, distance does not matter.
+
+Since all of this is happening on your GS, you just need to click
+tiles. The computer checks to see that a connection is possible. If it
+is, your GS draws the line, there's a THOOP sound, and the tiles
+disappear.
+
+Of course,  you can connect tiles using fewer than three segments. The
+side by side Five-Brown-Spot tiles in Game A could be clicked and
+removed. In Game C, a two-segment connect would get rid of the Knight
+tiles once that pesky Apple tile is gone; but, alas, the Apple tiles
+can not yet be connected. Happily, you discover that once the
+Two-Diamond tiles are gone, the Beetle tiles will go, and, then, a
+three-segment connect will take care of the Knights!
+
+Such are your concerns when taking on Shisen. As in Shanghai, Operation
+Lambda, Soko Ban, and other addictive logic games, the 'hook' is
+getting to stretch your mind in mastering a new skill. Exactly what the
+skill might be is unclear, though, evidently, it involves enhancing
+certain visualization and planning capabilities. Beyond this, about all
+one can say is that becoming expert feels good. Cracking a Shisen
+pattern, clearing the board, and winning is, definitely, fun!
+
+As might be expected in a program offering 34,463 randomly generated
+patterns, not every game is winnable. (In some 60-70 games, I've found
+three-- 4096, 4162, 3458-- which seem to be for-sure no-win patterns.) 
+At first, my reaction was something like "No fair!" On the other hand,
+not being sure of winnability adds a touch of suspense; and, each claim
+of a no-win is sure to attract players looking for a way to crack the
+uncrackable pattern.
+
+GShisen starts with a 'randomly' selected game; but, you are free to
+end play and load any game you like by just entering its number. For
+tough, yet still winnable, challenges try 1973, 2432, 4095, or 25064.
+
+Your official reward for victory is getting a shot at having your Name
+and Time saved in the top ten Hall of Fame roster. Though having such a
+roster is a plus, limiting it to just the ten best times does not make
+sense. Since some patterns are considerably easier than others, the
+best times are going to be for the weakest challenges. The victories of
+which you are most proud may never be listed. A much better scheme
+would be to record best Time and Name for each pattern.
+
+GShisen comes with a docs file which explains game play and describes
+System requirements. An accelerator board is recommended mainly because
+it enables access to an automatic check for valid plays after each
+match. If the this feature is not active, you must click Check Moves,
+Suggest Move, or Show Matches in order to have the computer check that
+a valid play is available. When playing a difficult pattern, having the
+Auto Check is very nice indeed!  Otherwise, GShisen executes fine on an
+unaccelerated IIgs.
+
+Rendered in colorful 640 mode super-res, Kelvin Sherlock's GShisen is
+as attractive and smooth-running as it is addictive. If your fingers
+have been itching for the touch of cyber tiles, this is your game. Just
+be sure to carve out a few hours before starting. To paraphrase the old
+potato chip commercial: "No one can play just one!"
+
+  
+Rubywand, 1998 
+  
+  
+
+*** is a rating of "Very Good" 
+
+You can download GShisen from the A2-Delphi archive; for more info,
+check ... 
+
+http://www.delphi.com/apple2/
+
+You can download the new GShisen "Nuggets" tile set from the Asimov-GS
+archive at ...
+
+ftp://apple.cabi.net/pub/applegs/Games/GShisen.stuff/Tiles/ .
+
+You can download a 'game fix' patch for the GShisen Hall of Fame prompts
+from the Asimov-GS archive at ...
+
+ftp://apple.cabi.net/pub/applegs/Games/GShisen.stuff/
+
+
+
+
+  

apple/REVIEWS/aagamesintro.txt

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+The Games of 1985 and 1986
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Despite less than spectacular Apple II sales, 1985 and 1986 were very good years for Apple II gaming. Overall, quality continued to improve as reflected in graphics techniques, broader use of sound peripherals, and freedom from bugs. Several vendors chose to emphasize 'production value' with sturdier, more attractive packaging, and better written more colorful game manuals.
+
+     There was, also, a trend toward greater variety in the kinds of games produced. Simulations, at last, 'arrived', word and knowledge-oriented games proliferated, and wargamers were foxhole-deep in new products.
+
+     Educational games, long the "dogs" of computer software, included some very entertaining releases. Finally, the arcade/adventure dichotomy became more blurred than ever, with several long-play, adventure-like arcades and more animated, arcade-like adventures.
+
+     Still, the 'traditional' labels are helpful in quickly conveying a lot of information about a game. Probably, you do not need to be told that Ballblazer is an "arcade"-- a game emphasizing rapid action which places a premium upon player reflexes and eye-hand coordination and in which the outcome is usually reflected via a score. "Ballblazer" sounds like an arcade game title.
+
+     On the other hand, when you see that Impossible Mission is an arcade game, you know, first, that it is not an adventure. Also, you can guess that good timing and making jumps, etc. with an action figure are important elements of play.
+
+     Adventures tend to present complex objectives, incorporate comprehensive character development, and favor reasoning over reflexes. Because these games are usually fairly involved, descriptions would be impossibly verbose without a few special terms; and some of these take a bit of explaining.
+
+     The quality of a game's "parser", for instance, relates to how well the program seems to understand your inputs. In text and picture-text adventures good parsing makes it easy to try out ideas. Poor parsing requires you to figure out how the program wants you to tell it what to do-- i.e. you must 'play the parser' as well as the adventure.
+
+     As you would expect, a "maze adventure" locates play in some sort of labyrinth. What may not be obvious is that the maze need not actually look like a maze. In The Bard's Tale the streets of Skara Brae amount to a maze and should be mapped as carefully as the game's 3-D view "dungeons".  Ultima IV, Shadowkeep, Alternate Reality, and several other major adventures incorporate mazes.
+
+     In a "map adventure", moving your character or party on a map showing forests, mountains, etc. is an important part of the game. Since there are many towns, castles, etc. to explore, these games tend to feature more quests and longer play than most other adventures.   
+
+
+Ratings
+
+     The reviews, of course, were written for and published in Computist more than a decade ago. In one or two cases my opinion has changed enough to merit modifying a review; but, for the most part, they have been reproduced 'as is' from old Screenwriter II files. 
+
+     Back in the mid-80's, it was popular to supply numeric evaluations of important game features (such as Graphics).  So, each game is rated in five areas and "overall" on a ten-point scale. Putting this scale in perspective:  10 is "Superior", 7 is "Good", 5 is "Fair" and 3 is "Poor".
+
+    "Graphics" (GRFX) is the first area rated. It concerns quality of artwork, clarity, impact, smoothness, speed, and realism.
+
+     Good "Support Materials" (S.M.) include clear, thorough directions for play. In some cases attractiveness, tutorial value, or effectiveness in creating 'atmosphere' may be important.
+
+    "Playability" (PLAY) relates to how much extraneous activity is required to play the game. Good parsing, rapid "save" and "restore" functions, efficient menus, smooth controls, and readily available "Help" screens are features which enhance playability.
+
+    "Difficulty" (DIFF) is self-explanatory for single-player games. For others it relates to how difficult it is to achieve a decent level of play.
+
+     High "Interest" (INTR) games are good at attracting and holding player attention. Typically, these are the adventures you can't wait to continue and the arcades you play, and replay, for hours at a time.
+
+     The "Overall" (GAME) rating amounts to a summary of player reaction(s) during tryouts. For educationally-oriented games, a second rating (/ED) of educational value is included.
+

apple/REVIEWS/airheart.txt

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+
+Airheart (Adventure Arcade)
+Compatibility: 128K Apple IIe, IIc, IIgs
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     When Marinus, Lord of the Sea, realized that his kingdom would soon fall to merciless invaders his final arrangements were to protect his only son. Locked in suspended animation and surrounded by robot defenses, the prince may only be awakened by one brave and skillful enough to pass four great tests. For only with such a one at his right hand can the prince hope to free his people-- only with the hero to be known as "Airheart"!
+
+     As the challenge begins you are seated in a small, jet-powered one-gun skimmer craft in mid-ocean between the two "Home" islands. On each stands a solemn guardian; as one, they point to the open sea: "Bring us the sword", they command, and then vanish. If successful, you will subsequently be directed to recover a goblet, a harp, and finally the prince himself. Each item retrieved earns an extra life and adds to your score. Losing your last life ends the game; however, you may still qualify for High Score honors (saved to disk).
+
+     All of the tests follow the same format. You must track your way (above or below the surface) to the "Treasury" island, defeat the robot defenders, board the island to retrieve the object, and return to the Home islands. Since your craft is vulnerable to being shot out from beneath you, on the way back there is a brief robot-fighting contest to win an extra skimmer.
+
+     The higher the task, the tougher and more numerous the defenders. These include seven types of buoy-shaped machine that can bump you, fire bullets, suck up your skimmer, and send out suffocating bubbles, among other talents. Knocking out robots takes a bit of practice, since you must control shot distance by tilting your craft; and, naturally, the robots are always in motion. Finally, even after potting one of these turkeys, you have to quickly scoop up the leftover "pod"; otherwise, the robot regenerates!
+
+     This is the first double-hires arcade I've seen; so the colorful, detailed, smoothly animated graphics were something of a surprise. Add good sound, and the result is a very attractive presentation; just watching the demo sequences is a treat. The acid test, of course, is to tackle an actual mission. With good speed and responsive controls for tilt, up/down motion via jets, and full-circle horizontal motion, the skimmer is fun to fly and fight. Brought to you from the creators of "Choplifter", Broderbund's "Airheart" is a solid arcade challenge sure to become a classic.
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1700. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    07    08    07    08    09

apple/REVIEWS/alcazar.txt

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+
+ALCAZAR: THE LOST FORTRESS (Maze Adventure)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     Your quest for wealth and power at last brings you to a strange landscape dotted with brooding castles long abandoned to wild beasts. If the legends speak truth, mere leagues to the east is your goal, ancient Alcazar with its fabled throne, crown, and untold riches.
+
+     Whichever of several routes you choose, two or more castles must be overcome. Each, including Alcazar itself, is a multi-level maze of chambers, pitfalls, and hidden shafts patrolled by tigers, giant spiders, and even less savory magical creatures.
+
+     Your main weapon is a revolver with only six shots; but more specialized, fresh revolvers, and other items crucial to success are sprinkled about the mazes. Some, such as rope to repair bridges, a raft to cross a lake, and magic carpets let you circumvent entire castles. Play need last only an hour; so, there is no game save option. However, random distribution of major items guarantees that each game is different.
+
+     An informative display and nicely graduated pacing place the emphasis squarely on decision-making, though arcade skills get a fair workout as well. Good use of sound rounds out an attractive adventuring package good for many replays.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    08    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/aliceinwonderld.txt

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+Alice in Wonderland (Picture-Text Action Adventure)
+Compatible: 64k Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drivep; joystick optional
+
+     A summer's day picnic is always fun, especially with that nice Rev. Dodgson to tell such interesting stories. Still, when an oversized, watch-toting rabit rushes by, the only thing for a normal, curious little girl to do is follow. In Windham's version of the Lewis Carroll classic, your objective is to explore Wonderland, unravel its mysteries, and return to the mundane world (before you miss too many French lessons).
+
+     Designed for new readers, "Alice in Wondeland" employs arcade style displays and character movement with other adventuring functions (e.g. "TAKE", "USE", "ASK", "SCOLD", etc.) handled via menu. While some forty Wonderland/Looking Glass personages supply clues, riddles, and useful songs, a major concern is to approach obstacles with the proper perspective. So collection and careful use of size-changing cakes and potions is very important.
+
+     Despite its intended audience, winning the game is hardly a breeze. A modicum of arcade 'snap' is required and Wonderland is easily a complicated enough place to reward mapping. Long playing and colorful, this is thoroughly enjoyable adventure. (Just ask Alice.)
+
+
+Available from Windham: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. (617) 494-1225. $26.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    07    08    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/alterego.txt

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+
+Alter Ego (Life Simulation/Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+
+     While most entertainment software transports the player to exotic settings and bizaar circumstances, a few packages traffic in the mundane, familiar world of everyday experience. One such is Activision's "Alter Ego", a life simulation which invites you to play "what if". What if you were a more (or less) adventurous teenager? Suppose you had chosen a different career? or a different spouse? ... In "Alter Ego" your goal is to experience, grow, and be true to yourself-- whoever that may be!
+
+     Unless continuing from a saved position, you begin with a questionnaire to define a personality; or you may have the program create one 'at random'. The resulting profile outlines tendencies in twelve areas (confidence, intelligence, social skills, etc.).  Updated throughout the life of your character, the profile is the major factor in deciding which experiences are available and whether any responses are 'out of character' and thus rejected by the program.
+
+     Play may commence at any of seven life stages from birth and infancy through adolescence, adulthood, and old age. In each stage you seek out experiences by moving along the scrollable "life map" onto tokens representing various types of episodes. A heart, for instance, equates with emotionally charged situations; a man with ladder indicates work experiences, etc..
+
+     Unless a selected episode is too advanced for your current level of development, it will be presented along with response options. A brief discussion of results follows your choice and the profile is automatically updated. (You can check your progress at any time by 'clicking' the "status" token.)
+
+     Every stage includes many non-replayable "life experiences" with repeatable "life choices" (those concerning dating, college, marriage, etc.) available as appropriate. Assuming you don't fall out of a window, get yourself shot, or otherwise push your luck too far, when you reach a given age-- ready or not-- it's onward to the next stage.
+
+     Offered in separate, three-diskette, male and female versions, "Alter Ego" is an attractive, smooth-running production; though not one entirely free of psychological glitches and contradictions. I doubt, for instance, that many children have ever viewed a dog as a "hairy man". Nor does it seem correct to characterize a teenager's decision not to interfer in an armed holdup as "fearful"; whereas intervention is labeled "brave".
+
+     Why does the personality questionnaire ask if the player is going to respond truthfully?-- you couldn't generate much of an "alter" ego if you did-- and why is the player warned beforehand of sexually explicit episodes but not violent, life-threatening ones?
+
+     Perhaps players should simply be 'warned' that, while the episodes can be interesting, even a bit spicy, this is, after all, supposed to be a 'real life' simulation. Play it straight and you can expect most experiences to end up as "Father Knows Best" reruns.
+
+     If you're looking for a vacation from Swords and Sorcery fantasy, this smooth-running, attractive simulation could be your ticket to mundanesville. If you want fantasy, look forward to a tough challenge.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7286, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $49.95 (Male or Female version)
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 07    07    08    04    05    06/07

apple/REVIEWS/amazon.txt

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+
+Amazon (Picture-Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 64k Apple II+, //e. iic
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+     Yet another NSRT-backed expedition to the Amazon has met a violent fate. Determined to locate an ancient mine which, if legends are correct, should be a source of a rare form of emerald important to national defense, the agency turns to you. If National Satellite Research Technology's best field operative can't find the Lost City of Chak and its mine, who can?!
+
+     When your first contact, an Amazon expert, is found murdered it's clear that things could get rough; and, once in the Amazon, they do. Cannibals want your head, corrupt soldiers want your money and/or your life, and an active volcano is ready to blow just in case you manage to offend the wrong god. At least your portable computer/satellite link provides exact positioning; and Paco, your ex-contact's pet parrot, is a goldmine of information.
+
+     Beautiful graphics, decent parsing, and an interesting story line quickly involve you in one of the better exploration-oriented challenges. Offering three difficulty levels, "Amazon" is good for several evenings of hi-tech jungle adventuring.
+
+
+Available from Telarium: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. (617)-494-1200. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    08    08    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/ancartofwar.txt

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+
+
+THE ANCIENT ART OF WAR
+List Price: $44.95  from Broderbund Software, Inc.
+Requires: Apple Macintosh (not Lisa or Macintosh XL) and mouse
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Nearly twenty-four hundred years ago Sun Tzu, an extaordinarily successful general of Wu, committed his ideas on the purposes and methods of armed conflict to writing. A respected Chinese classic, the translated "Art of War" has inspired such disparate practicioners of warfare as military commanders, chess masters, and now computer game designers. Styled "The Ancient Art of War", Broderbund's ambitious simulation seeks to provide wargamers with both strategic and close-up tactical control of their forces.
+
+     In each of eleven pre-set scenarios your opponent may be any one of eight famous generals ranging from Athena, Alexander, and Caesar through Napoleon and Geronimo. Each is different; so while Alexander is most dangerous in open terrain, Geronimo is at home in the mountains and forests, etc. Aside from the requisite adjustments in player strategies, this variety ammounts to an effective leveling scheme. Sun Tzu is said to "understand every aspect of war" and will, in fact, demolish all but very skilled players; but Athena is insanely agressive and easily outflanked. Whomever you face, victory is achieved by capturing enemy flags or by eliminating all hostile forces.
+
+     Each campaign in "'War" is fought on a two-screen, vertically scrollable map showing terrain along with any bridges, forts, and villages. White and black soldier figures (a little larger than 40-colume-format letters) locate friendly and known enemy "squads". Directing a unit's movement is just a matter of clicking it and tracing a route via mouse. Curiously, with four gamespeed settings, you will find no option for simply stopping action to study the situation. Add the need to click squads individually for size and composition data and the result is something less than easy access to The Big Picture.
+
+   "'War" scenarios incorporate a multiplicity of strategic factors. Besides plains and hills, terrain features may include forests, mountains, and bodies of water-- the latter three with player-selectable passability. Food sources, supply lines, scouting enemy positions, and reinforcements are additional considerations. Best of all, an excellent built-in designer package makes it a snap to construct and save entire new scenarios of your own.
+
+     Each combat unit is composed of up to three soldier types. A kind of scissors-paper-stone scheme gives agile "barbarians" an edge against archers, archers against the sword weilding "knights", and knights against barbarians. Each squad may have up to fourteen members with the number of units (friendly plus enemy) limited to a total of twenty. Composition, formation, and marching speed are individually set via a "Squad" window which also indicates "condition" and food supply.
+
+     Any contact with an enemy squad enables the "zoom" option allowing you to direct your unit's tactics. In superbly illustrated scenes remescent of the famous "Star Wars" animated 'chess game' sequence, archers fire, barbarians pound, knights hack, and troops drop like flies. (Glorious!)
+
+     Implementing elements of mobile attack, armor, and distance weaponry, "The Ancient Art of War" establishes an unusually active, high-validity wargaming environment. Explicit menus and first-rate documentation quickly move you into the fray for campaigning which may span minutes, hours, or even days. Complex, yet guarenteed not to become another object of worship gathering dust on your shelves; this one is right on target for wargamers of every stripe.
+
+
+Broderbund Software, Inc.
+17 Paul Drive
+San Rafael, CA 94903-2102
+(415) 479-1170

apple/REVIEWS/ar2dungeon.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+ALTERNATE REALITY: THE DUNGEON ($29.95, by K. Jordan & D. Pinal, from DataSoft/Electronic Arts)
+Requires: 64K Apple II series, one 5.25" drive; joystick optional
+Rating:***
+
+     As you may recall, in the "Alternate Reality" 'origins' edition ("The City") you were snatched by aliens and dumped in The City of Xebec's Demise. With "The Dungeon" your quest to regain Earth and/or exact vengence upon your kidnappers continues, though, for now, you must be content with mastering the city's labyrinthine underground. Whether new to "Alternate Reality" or a City veteran, the stronger you become here, the better your chances in "The Palace" ("Alternate Reality" III!) and some four or five additional scenarios sure to follow.
+
+     Unless transferring from "The City", you begin with randomly assigned Strength, Endurance, Skill, Hit Points, etc. plus some food, water, and enough money to purchase a second-rate weapon at the nearby shop. A little further, just around the bend, is a "well-lighted area" where you will find a bar & grill and the Retreat, just the place to rest your weary bones and recoup some lost hit points.
+
+     While all of this can seem very large and dangerous to a beginner; you are actually in a small relatively 'safe' corner of the 64x64 upper level. (Below are other, 32x32 and 16x16, levels.)  Accessed via extensive City Sewer passages are uncounted mazes, strange "blink mine" fields, the goblin realm, poisoned ice caves, and other challenging hazards. Curative fountains, a Weapons Enchantress, guild halls, and the like are here too, but, naturally, harder to find.
+
+     Playing very much like a single-character version of "Bards Tale" or "Realms of Darkness", "Dungeon" offers a well-drawn 3-D perspective forward view showing brick walls, doors, arches, etc., plus any Dungeon denizens encountered. Combat entails trading blows with partially-animated opponents via menu commands; but, unlike most such adventures, you are well-advised to at least attempt non-hostile interchange on many occassions. The Healer, for example, can cure a host of ailments, several characters are satisfied with offering advice, paupers are looking for a handout, etc.. Whoever (or whatever), such dealings almost always impact your Good or Bad "orientation".  (Yes, you CAN prosper as a 'dark side' type.)  Depending upon orientation, involvement in feuds, and guild membership, one adventurer's "monster" will frequently be anothers good buddy. "Neutral", of course, is the least healthful status possible.
+
+     Running the gamut from 'easy' giant bats and slime mold, through valkyries, ice demons, and enemy arch mages, Dungeon monsters are well differentiated according to kinds of attact and vulnerabilities (air, fire, water, cold, etc.), goodies carried, and certain special attributes. The mighty Flame Sword, for instance, is worthless against a Phoenix, thieves often carry cursed weapons, and wolfbite transfers nasty diseases. Slurping up valuable possessions during combat is the devourer's forte'; and (hint!) the dangerous doppleganger will always attack with a duplicate of your current primary weapon. (BUT, he can't switch during combat; you can!)
+
+     Monster killing yields better weapons, assorted wands, scrolls, "eyes" and other magical implements plus "experience"-- the latter being your sole route to permanent attribute improvements. Death or QUITting without a SAVE (e.g. when you become lost) carries only a mild penalty. You are "rejoined" with all your stuff (as of the last SAVE), but minus a few points on some attribute. Winning through to the Dungeon's exit is, to be sure, a rough, long-play proposition. Yet, with carefully maintained maps, a character who has progressed beyond "beginner" status has good prospects for success.
+
+     Offering an extaordinarily rich adventuring environment, the sequal is a vast improvement over "' City", with larger hires script, more detailed graphics, and smoother, easier access to status/information displays. Speed and sound are adequate; and, all in all, I doubt that a more entertaining collection of adversaries or situations exists anywhere. Notable weaknesses are SAVE, which ends play (forcing a restart to continue a session), and the handling of new characters. Even given first class documentation, the game is MUCH TOO ROUGH on new guys-- bordering, to put it bluntly, on "defective". If, once you 'get into it', "The Dungeon" were not so emmensely enjoyable, I'd recommend that newcomers simply forget it; but it is, so don't!
+
+
+Jeff Hurlburt, 1988
+

apple/REVIEWS/archon.ii.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Summary: More intricate and better put together than Archon I, but some of the old good&bad guys are missing. 
+Plot: Another good vs. evil battle. Four "adepts" to each side summon monsters to control power. You look either to 1)conquer all power squares, or 2)defeat your opponent's cathedral in combat, either after "apocalypse" is cast or one side loses all his adepts. One side may run out of spell points, too, and that will end the game. The power squares(which also gain you spell power) move from element to element after each turn. Fire is on the outside, then air, water, and then earth. In addition, there are two voids in one square between the fire and the air(they are both power squares). The Earth plane is shaped like a barbell, with Water bordering around it, and Air around it. Fire is a rectangular border, with the void filling in the remaining space. If a player chooses to switch planes for one of his army, the piece can only move one square, but otherwise its movement is unlimited. 
+
+Combat scenes are neat and varied, even within the four basic elemental types--there are obstacles for earth that block missiles, water slows you and your missiles down, air deflects missiles unpredictably, and fire damages you. 
+
+The characters: 4 adepts for each side, one in each element. All fire missiles unless otherwise indicated. Good guys: Golem/earth, Kraken/water(slow, short range, but powerful and wide missiles), Thunderbird/air, Salamander/fire. Bad guys: Behemoth/earth(punches), Siren/water("sings" for damage), Efreet/air, Firebird/fire(blast of fire in short radius) Demons(either side can call these, listed in order of spell point cost): juggernaut("runs at" opponents and looks uncommonly like a car), wraith(invisible, drains opponents' energy when near)gorgons(slow you down with missiles 'til you're stone), chimera(alternate 3 types of attack--3rd is a punch), Naturally, monsters fare best on their own element--they usually get bonus strength and hit tolerance. I miss some of the old characters, but the new ones are very interesting, and it's neat to see two of the same monster against each other; two equally matched players can really test themselves that way, although two wraiths against each other might take a while, draining energy from one to the other and back. 
+
+Controls: keyboard is almost impossible. Joystick is the only choice. They had a good idea with being able to move the magic ball adepts/cathedrals fire, but it is too unpredictable and hard to control. 
+
+Graphics and sound: The monsters really "move" (i.e. golems walk, thunderbirds fly, and salamanders slither) whether in combat or no, and the pictures are really neat. I like krakens', efreets', and thunderbirds' pictures in particular. Sounds are and various sizzling noises for attacks and notes for getting hit. 
+
+Replaybility: lots of different levels made it a challenge for a while without it ever being impossible. But the final fight is very annoying. Usually cathedrals just sit and kind of fire back and forth at the end, which is anticlimactic. But it's fun to try to fight one monster against the other and try each combination. 
+
+Archon II is a lot more compact and organized than its predecessor. It even requires more strategy; power squares weren't a big deal in Archon I as you usually just killed all your opponents and too much rested on your "major" piece, but the right squares are critical in Archon II, and timing is an important skill. However, Archon II doesn't have that chess "feel" to it(gee, maybe because it's not on a chessboard!) and doesn't have the same entertaining variety of characters. It's still good entertainment, though, and a worthy successor. 

apple/REVIEWS/autoduel.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+
+Auto Duel (Arcade Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     It is the 21st century, a time when national governments have dissolved into a kind of controlled anarchy. Cities and the larger towns maintain order within their boundaries; but outside, along the vast, vital network of roads and super highways, only the strong survive, and right-of-way goes to the biggest gun! Marketed by Electronic Arts, Origin Systems "Auto Duel" gives you a shot at fame, fortune, and, just maybe, the chance to carve out a few legends.
+
+     Set in the Northeastern U.S. of 2030 A.D., the adventure embraces sixteen cities and a highway system spanning eight states and the District of Columbia. Unless continuing a saved game, you begin in New York, on foot, with $2000. Your first priority is a decent set of wheels; but two grand will barely pay for an unarmed deathtrap. It will, however, take care of several days room and board, buy a suit of body armor, and cover practice fees at the local auto dueling arena. Here a quick check of the events schedule reveals that tonight is "amateur night" (what luck!); and you can risk your neck in an arena-supplied, one-gun "killer cart" for the $1500 prize money.
+
+     Thus begins your career as an auto duelist, with days spent traveling from city to city by bus and nights filled with deadly competition. Success brings prestige, boosts in "driving" and "marksmanship" skills, and money for the sort of machine you can take out on the road or enter in more advanced, higher payoff, dueling events.
+
+     As a full-scale adventure, "Auto Duel" incorporates much the same character/equipment development, buying and selling, and exploration elements one normally expects to find, plus a very strong arcade action emphasis. Except when moving around in a city, you view a combat-type display showing your car (and any others nearby) on smoothly scrolled scenery along with a small radar screen and indicators for weapons and armor status, speed, and mileage.
+
+      While any single, primary goal is left for players to discover, an interesting feature is that the three occupations appear to be viable routes to different kinds of 'ultimate' success. As a duelist you can aim to win city championships, perhaps at all nine arena locations. As a courier you can graduate to mysterious "special assignments"; and as a road warrior/scavenger your main target is the elusive outlaw known only as "Mr. Big".
+
+     Supplied with detailed manual, reference card, and even a neat little toolkit, "Auto Duel is innovative and attractive, but also seriously flawed. Resuming a saved game wipes out your saved character, only resaved via a "QUIT" (whereupon everything simply freezes)-- so hours of progress can be lost to a power glitch or by getting killed (all too easy).
+
+     Such 'rough edges' are annoying; but the real problem is with combat. Unresponsive controls, mediocre weapons effects graphics, and lackluster sound put a real damper on fun. Evidently, your low initial "driving skill" number CAUSES your car to handle like a boat-- that is, a beginning driver must actually demonstrate more arcade ability than an experienced duelist to achieve the same result! Very promising and thus all the more disappointing, "Auto Duel" is hardly a wreck; but it's not a 'performance machine' either.
+
+
+Available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    08    05    08    06    06

apple/REVIEWS/ballblazer.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+
+BALLBLAZER (Arcade for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick input
+
+     In the multi-species galactic civilization of the late 31st century, sports have supplanted warfare as an outlet for agressive instincts. Foremost amon spectator entertainments is "Ballblazer", a one-on-one version of Old Earth soccerplayed in force-shielded hovercraft called "rotofoils".
+
+     The Ballblazer field is a 55x21 curved grid with a pair of moving goal beams at each end. To score you must snatch the 1000 kg. "plasmorb" (i.e. the ball) in the rotofoil's capture field, meneuver around your opponent (who will try to rip the ball away), and fire it between your goal beams. Each score shrinks the goal; so it's best to try the three point, over-the-horizon shot early.
+
+     Glass smooth movement, responsive controls, and lively sound effects guarentee all the lightning fast action you can handle. Original, alien, and (for many) intimidating; "Ballblazer" is competition for the arcade elite.
+
+
+Available from EPYX: 1043 Kiel Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 745-0700. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    08    08    08    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/bardstale.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+THE BARD'S TALE (Maze Adventure for one to six players)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, second drive optional
+
+     The evil wizard Mangar the Dark has tightened his grip upon the once prosperous hamlet of Skara Brae. A spell of Eternal Winter isolates the town and, only a few days ago all the militiamen simply disappeared! Now horrible creatures lurk in abandoned buildings and, at night, roam the streets working mayhem.
+
+     In this first installment of Electronic Arts's "Tales of the Unknown" you lead a party of daring young warriors, magicians, rogues, and bards determined to free Skara Brae. From your base at the Adventurer's Inn you, at first, venture forth only by day in search of less dangerous monsters (and their booty!), clues to locations said to harbor vital artifacts, and, sometimes a good tankard or two to wet your spellsinger bard's ready lips.
+
+     Spread across a 32 x 32 grid, Skara Brae is packed with curious places to explore such challenging oddities as guardian statues, mysterious temples, and unapproachable (?) gates. The display shows a very realistic forward view of buildings and, during combat, monsters. A nice touch is a sky that gradually darkens as night falls.
+
+     "The Bard's Tale" is an engaging long play adventure with the ingenious property of permitting transfer of characters from "Ultima III" and "Wizardry". (Moving a few of my advanced Ultima characters into the Inn solved the problem of night monsters very nicely.)  Probably, this option should be employed with care, since developing characters from scratch is one of the best parts of the game. Well documented and superbly crafted, "The Bard's Tale" is guaranteed adventuring fun for many long evenings.
+
+
+Available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    08    08    08    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/bardstale1.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+TALES OF THE UNKNOWN, VOLUME 1: THE BARD'S TALE
+List Price: $44.95  from Electronic Arts
+Requires: Apple II Plus, IIe, or IIc; 64K RAM; one disk drive (second drive, SpeeDemon board, and 128K optional)
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     It is nearly evening when you sight the battered silver 'A' marking an otherwise nonedescript facade. Once this was the Alchemists' Guild Hall... but that was years ago; before Mangar the Dark cast a spell of Eternal Winter about peaceful, contented Skara Brae, unleashed a monster horde, and swept aside alchemists, sorcerers, warriors-- anyone who might oppose his rule. Yet, if the bartender at the "Scarlet Bard" spoke sooth, some continue the fight; and you now stand before the hall of the secret Adventurers' Guild!
+
+     In "The Bard's Tale" you lead a ragtag crew of up to six heros on a shining quest to overthrow the wicked Mangar, a quest which all too soon proves to be a distant star. Monsters of every description, from innocuous kobolds to deadly spellcasters and fearsome dragons, roam Skara Brae's labyrinthine byways. Others lurk in abandoned buildings and dungeons or take the form of guardian monoliths. Long duration shield, second sight, and levitation spells (verified via on-screen picteographs) help even the odds; still, only a foolhardy braggart would lead a beginning party far from the guild hall after dark.
+
+     All of the town's 32x32 real estate and some sixteen 22x22 dungeon/tower mazes must be explored for clues, one-of-a-kind magical artifacts, and monsters (whose booty is your chief source of income). Good mapping is critical where your very survival often depends upon reaching the nearest temple for healing or getting to Roscoe's Emporium for a spell power recharge.
+
+     While exploration and combat are your main activities, character development remains an ongoing concern. Heroes may include warriors, spellsinging bard's, hunters, thieves, and four classes of magic users drawn from a roster of up to thirty player-created characters. With six races, some thirteen parameters (such as strength, dexterity, armor class, hit points, etc.), and perhaps the most elaborate of schemes for character advancement, you can tailor parties to suit virtually any strategy. There is even an option to 'recruit' your favorite, fully developed characters from "Ultima III" and "Wizardry". Two or three such veterans are a great help in getting started, especially since 'experience' and gold won in combat are shared equally by party members. Of course, it is possible to abuse the transfer option. As in the best "Dungeons & Dragons"-type adventures, developing "Bard's Tale" characters from scratch is one of the more entertaining aspects of play.
+
+     Featuring full-color, forward-view displays of streets and buildings, animated monsters, and even a sky which darkens at night (very spooky!), this first of Electronic Arts's "Tales of the Unknown" quickly envelopes you in one of the all-time great adventure challenges. Pacing is leisurely, perhaps a bit too much so during combats; and the documentation exhibits some curious gaps. Fortunately, single-key commands with good menus take up most of the slack. Emmensely entertaining, "The Bard's Tale" is begun; but only you can supply the ending of a saga fit to be sung through the ages.
+
+Electronic Arts
+2755 Campus Drive
+San Mateo, CA 94403
+(415) 571-7171

apple/REVIEWS/beastwar.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+BEAST WAR (Strategy & Tactics for 1-4 players)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick input
+
+
+     When constant warfare threatened to erase all life from Galaxy Alaxis, it was at last decided to find some less destructive means for settling disputes. The Beast War, a chess-like contest of strategy and tactics, proved the ideal solution.
+
+     In "Beast War" you always play against the computer, directing the movement of six different semi-intelligent beasts on a circular, 43-'square' field. In each round of a match, your objective is to maximize your score by destroying opposing beasts and capturing squares. When employed to adjudicate disputes, the player with the highest match score wins and is eligible to have his or her name and score saved to disk.
+
+     Each beast is characterized by movement pattern, energy level, strength, and unique combat advantage over one other beast. (Thus the fearsome Dracon can burn the winged Aeroctus to ash but fears the bite of the Saurus.)  Any move consumes energy, especially when the target is a square previously occupied by the enemy (as indicated by the presence of an enemy marker). The same is true of combat initiated by moving to an occupied square. If a beast's energy level goes to zero it is eliminated; so control of the center, recharge square is crucial to victory.
+
+     Combats are resolved in a brief arcade sequence where each beast may advance, strike, or retreat. Here energy reserves, strength, number of adjacent friendly beasts, and special attributes determine the outcome.
+
+     Like chess, this game is easy to play but difficult to play well. As challenging as it is alien, "Beast War" offers yet another enjoyable alternative to traditional strategy-oriented boardgames.
+
+
+Available from Avalon Hill: 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. (301) 254-5300. $25.00
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    07    08    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/breakers.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+
+Breakers (Text Adventure/Novel)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive, 128K, 80-column card optional
+
+
+     Remember all those sci-fi flicks about kindly, peace-loving aliens getting kicked around by greedy, hard-hearted humans? Well, now you can REALLY start to feel sorry for the aliens because in Broderbund's 51st century "Breakers" scenario, that's just what you are. As to how a little golden-skinned "Lau" native of Borg comes to be marooned and in hiding on an aging colony station orbiting his home planet-- that's easy. You and five of your pals came to this mining company-dominated rust bucket to lodge a complaint!
+
+     Set in an obscure corner of Slug Nubula, "Breakers" involves the often mysterious interplay of several groups and individuals active both on Borg and its man-made satellite, "Nimbus". First, there's United Mining Combine, which maintains a large (expensive) security force of brutal "gak" police on the station. This, though Borg has long been mined-out and no ore has been shipped for months. 
+
+     So why is a high-powered executive running the UMC operation; and just what is the company really after?-- no one is saying much. On the other hand, swarms of punk rock, hippie, motorcycle outlaw types, called "breakers" hardly bother to conceal their own illicit enterprises. 
+
+     While one gang on the planet harvests "Magic" (a powerful narcotic employed by Lau shamen) and occassionally snatches a few natives; another gang on Nimbus handles distribution of the drug and makes some extra bread shipping the cute little Lau out to well-heeled socialites as fashionable pets!
+
+     Annoying, to be sure, yet such everyday atrocities pale to insignificance beside the actual reason for you people's protest. According to ancient Lau tradition, all life on Borg is periodically destroyed as the result of collision with Garbo, a mystical planetary twin which shares Borg's orbit. Only the Lau and any life forms near their enclave are saved, thanks to an elaborate ceremony centering around sacred "Elements" which must be gathered just prior to collision. 
+
+     Though no Terran instruments have ever detected Garbo, you know it exists and that the next meeting of the planets is scarcely days away. Unfortunately, UMC and the breakers have somehow interferred with the gathering process, perhaps unwittingly collecting the Elements themselves. Thus, the delegation to Nimbus and your own hazardous situation as the only Lau to escape being mugged upon arrival. All of the breakers aren't outlaws and a viiting magazine reporter may help; but one thing is clear. Only a little time remains to locate the Elements and avert total disaster!
+
+     Supplied with a nicely illustrated, information-packed scene-setter novelette, "Breakes" certainly boasts one of the more labyrinthine of computer adventuring scenarios. Happily, the game is somewhat more open to player initiative, with better-developed players, improved parsing, and less ponderous prose than earlier "Electronic Novel" releases. You will still have to put up with excessive disk access and looking up key words for each game restore-- a real pair of anti-features. "Breakers", fortunately, is enough fun to be worth the bother.
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1700. $44.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    09    05    06    08    07

apple/REVIEWS/brimstone.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+Brimstone (Text Adventure/Novel)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive, 128K, 80-column card optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     In the dark ages, All Hallows Eve night is definitely a good time to be safely indoors. Alas, such precautions do not save Save Gawain of the Round Table from the products of his own forebodings. With sleep the trap is sprung; and the poor knight finds himself launched upon a dream quest bound for the deepest pits of Hell itself! As Gawain in Broderbund's "Brimstone" you are emeshed in a web from which there is no escape save the words of a key phrase-- a simple bit of self-knowledge explaining just how you have come to such a sorry state.
+
+     As the dream begins, Gawain stands before a fog enshrouded alter-Camelot. Here he first encounters the Lady Enitharmon, a sometimes helpful but usually passive dungeon master archetype. Otherwise, deceit is the only truth and soon the knight is dumped upon the icy plains near Ulro's very core. Here then is the true beginme you do a "RESTORE", and having to compete with nearly constant disk access to enter commands, then what is? Supported by yet another super-classy, beautifully illustrated, hardcover semi-novel, "Brimstone" is a game you will love to hate, if only because, once begun, it demands to be finished.
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1700. $44.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    09    05    06    07    06

apple/REVIEWS/callisto.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+Review: CAVERNS OF CALLISTO
+
+    by  Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Orbiting Jupiter, Callisto boasts massive subterranean deposits of Plasmil, a strange liquid used for shielding ships and suits against alien attack. Unfortunately, as you discover upon landing your trusty survey vessel, this does not preclude the existence of hostile life forms on the tiny moon. Your ion drive has hardly cooled before it, along with some forty panels from the hull are snatched and carried away deep into the labyrinthine Plasmil mines. Suddenly a 'milk run' becomes a struggle for survival as you seek to recover the stolen parts from the treacherous, monster-infested Caverns of Callisto.
+
+     This is the first arcade offering from the producers of Ultima III, an association which may explain the strong adventure flavoring. Faster paced than such 'extended arcades' as Wolfenstein and Lady Tut, 'Callisto nevertheless demands only a modicum of menuvering and weapons expertise. Your major challenge is to efficiently thread the game's multi-chambered maze. Strewn about the caverns are just so many fuel cannisters (fortuitously abandoned by miners fleeing a freak Plasmil flood). You must use these to power your flying suit and to maintain life support. Aimless wandering, monster hunting, and needlessly renegotiating such hazards as lava spewing pits, anti-intrusion lasers, and falling stalagmites all waste these precious reserves.
+
+     The mines, you soon realize, are quite extensive. Further complicating matters, it seems automatic mechanisms sealed a number of bulkheads during the flood. Naturally, this didn't stop the flooding; but now your access to the other chambers is blocked. To succeed you must locate the key to each bulkhead.
+
+     Crawling, flying, and floating, the cavern monsters are uniformly deadly upon contact but easily dispatched via a well-aimed blast from your plasma rifle. This rapid-firing device is, alas, a tad prone to overheating, whereupon it becomes temporarily inoperative. Happily, your defenses are augmented by numerous pools of Plasmil. A single dip is good for zapping the next few aliens careless enough to blunder against your suit. (A shield around the suited figure indicates the Plasmil is still active.)
+
+     Though the only way to actually win is to get out of the caverns with all the missing spaceship parts, some measure of accomplishment is provided by a score. (The program retains the top ten scores.) Points are awarded for killing monsters, retrieving panels, opening a bulkhead, etc. Generally, the deeper you penetrate, the jucier the rewards. Your score, along with fuel and temperature gauges, lives remaining, and panels left to be found in the current chamber are all displayed at the bottom of the screen.
+
+     Movement, changing direction, and firing are all managed by a single joystick and two game buttons. Control is very smooth and natural-feeling; the suited figure even tilts as thrust is applied. Since the rifle always aims in the direction you're facing, you can cover a fairly wide arc with minor adjustments in motion.
+
+     It seems clear that a great deal of effort was expended to make 'Callisto a viable, engaging arcade adventure. Each level (chamber) is different with a variety of monsters and hazards. Small figure animation (monsters, lasers, etc.) is very good and the close-up view of the cavern scrolls along effortlessly. Evidently, the major trade-offs for these features are a lack of definition in the cavern walls (which does detract a bit from the display) and the absence of a 'game save' option. Sound effects are varied and nicely synced to action. A much appreciated touch is a neat little fold-out map of the caverns.
+
+     Not your typical quick-stick shoot-em-up, Caverns of Callisto is a worthwhile entertainment investment at $34.95. The Apple II/IIe compatible game is published by Origin Systems. (P.O. Box 58009  Houston, Texas  77258)

apple/REVIEWS/captaingood.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+CAPTAIN GOODNIGHT (Arcade)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick input
+
+
+     From the insideous Dr. Maybe's remote Fear Islands headquarters comes an ultimatum: "Deliver $200 billion in gold to my agents in 24 hours or face worldwide destruction." Your mission, as the redoubtable Captain Goodnight, is to outfight Dr. Maybe's mechanized minions and destroy the Doomsday Device.
+
+     A long-playing combo of several earlier arcade hits, "Captain Goodnight and the Islands of Fear" features cleverly merged, expertly executed air, land, and sea action scenarios. Lives are unlimited; but each defeat sets you back to the beginning of the current scenario, costing precious minutes. Your "score" is the time remaining when you finally pull the plug. (Don't expect any medals for almost saving the world.)
+
+     Unfortunately, the game is so difficult to win that, although high winning scores are saved, such competition is practically eliminated. This and the occassional forced defeat (to show off one of several rescue sequences) are definite minuses.
+
+     Complete with map and official decoder wheel, "Captain Goodnight'" is fun to play, somewhat addictive, and often frustrating. If you can avoid ripping the diskett to pieces, this one is good for many stimulating replays.
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1170. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    06    09    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/caveoftime.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+The Cave of Time (Picture/Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirement: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     If a grench can steal Christmas, then it should come as no surprise that Evil Time Grouches have stolen history. Actually, what those pesky grouches have done is snatch four key objects from different periods: a shard of flint from some cavemen, a large egg from the Loch Ness Monster, a golden crown from the time of castles and kings, and President Lincoln's famous stovepipe hat. Paradoxes aside, the long-term affects of these thefts upon history are awesome to contemplate. Bantam's multiple-setting adventure launches you on an epoch-spanning quest to recover the precious artifacts and return each to its proper owner-- a feat only possible if you are prepared to brave the mysterious Cave of Time!
+
+     The three-way fork you encounter upon entering the cave branches left and right to the four time portals and downward to the grouches' dungeon, where the items are secured in separate cells. To obtain each object you must enter the dungeon, defeat the grouches in a swordfight, and search one of the cells. Fortunately, the guards don't care much for swordplay, so this part is easy. The real challenge is to find your way to the correct time and win through the mini-adventure to return an item. Each is very different, with additional items to obtain and use, personages to meet, and questions to answer. Sometimes, as in the swordfights or riding a wooly mammoth in caveman times, low level arcade skills are tested as well.
+
+     Since player adventuring inputs are via multiple-choice responses and none of the scenarios is especially involved, winning, on first inspection, appears absurdly easy. However, such minor slip-ups as a wrong answer or falling off the mammoth tend to disrupt the flow of time and you are hurled back to the cave (with items in tact). But, if you happen to arrive at a critical juncture without a needed tool, everything is lost. Also, there is no save/restore option and cave passages are randomly arranged upon powerup-- fair enough, as the game is entirely winnable in a single two or three hour session.
+
+     Adapted from the popular "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series, "The Cave of Time" is a well-integrated, nicely-paced medium level challenge. Providing a score based upon such achievements as winning a swordfight and returning an object is a good idea, since most players will tackle the game several times before winning; but not saving scores to diskette is a blunder. (Achievements unsaved are achievements unsung!)  Still, with excellent scenario graphics, decent sound, and frequent use of animation, "The Cave of Time" is an attractive, fun to play adventure well suited to ages nine through adult.
+
+
+Available from Bantam Software: 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10103. (212) 765 6500. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    07    06    07    07
+

apple/REVIEWS/chesscmcol.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+
+Chessmaster 2000 (Chess Player for one or two players)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; printer, SpeeDemon optional
+
+
+Colossus Chess IV (Chess Player for one or two players)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; 64K, printer, SpeeDemon optional
+
+
+     For reasons not altogether obvious, chess programs appear to arrive in flocks. Certainly there was nothing last year; whereas 1986 brings us three new packages, two of which qualify as serious challengers for the top spot in Apple chess.
+
+     Playing the two programs reinforced the overall impression of quality and evoked just a touch of deja vu. "Chessmaster" looks very much like "Mychess II"; whereas "Colossus" bears a strong resemblance to "Sargon III" (which just happen to be the other two top notch Apple chess programs). 
+
+    Both programs offer such most wanted features as solve-mate/problem modes, take back, variable speed replay, side switching, and board rotation. They permit program vs. itself play and will referee games for two human opponents. You can load, save, and delete games and obtain a move printout during or after a contest along with a board diagram. Neither, unfortunately, permits a graphics dump of the screen. (Nor does any other chess program I've seen; but a regrettable oversight even so.)
+
+     "Colossus" offers a black & white-only display in 2-D and, with 64K, very clear 3-D. "Chessmaster's" adds an option for eye-catching color (2-D or 3-D) and allows 90 degree rotation in case you want a side view. While both programs employ KB-only entry for moves and setting up positions, the "Colossus" on-screen cursor approach is more convenient and natural feeling than "Chessmaster's" pure alpha-numeric system.
+
+     The expansion of available playing levels marks a major improvement over earlier designs. "Chessmaster" offers nineteen (five seconds through 37.5 minutes/move); "Colossus" allows direct entry of average move time (00:00 - 59:59). Both offer an "infinite" (no time-out) level for in-depth analysis. Only "Colossus" offers a chessclock (dual presettable), a serious tournament mode (set move and time controls), the "all moves" mode for "five minute chess", etc., and an "equality" mode which matches program move time to yours.
+
+    "Colossus" program specs and functions documentation is vastly superior to "Chessmaster's", which just barely describes key functions. On the other hand, "Chessmaster's" well-designed on-screen menu makes it a much easier to use program. "Chessmaster" comes with a nicely done booklet including a brief tutorial, chess history, and a listing of the 100 classic games (1620-1986) on disk. 
+
+     The "Colossus" library includes 34 computer chess games (1978-1984) plus 19 solve-mate problems. Since "Colossus" files are unprotected, the diskette is a goldmine of ideas for those interested in developing their own chess programs.
+
+     Unfortunately, chess programs do not smirk, make snide comments, or look worried. They may, however, achieve a reasonable approximation via "technical information" supplied during a game's progress. Whereas "Chessmaster" displays only search depth, current move considered, and a hint; "Colossus" presents current best line, line currently being considered, assumed opponent move, depth, and evaluation scores. Thus, while well-matched in strength, "Colossus" is by far the more instructive, more entertaining opponent.
+
+     After playing several games against each program at two minutes/move I had about decided that "Chessmaster" is just slightly better than "Colossus". But, when I gave some "expert" and "A" (USCF) rated friends a shot, "Colossus" seemed the tougher adversary. (After two straight losses, one flustered player couldn't leave the computer until he got his revenge.)  
+
+     As to which of the 'big four' is the best opponent, the newcomers appear to have a slight edge, based mainly upon endgame improvements. Otherwise, the human player's style is a major factor. "Chessmaster" has the largest opening 'book' and appears the better positional player; "Colossus" is the better tactician. All the programs are at their best under pressure; but a tendency to over-value material leaves them susceptible to involved, arcane gambit lines. Programs do not risk second-best moves in order to set traps. But then they seldom overlook anything simple; and they never give up!
+
+     Even among today's more computer-wise players, the programs probably represent a solid "C", possibly "B" level challenge. Instructive, good fun, and consistantly tough, "Chessmaster" and "Colossus" belong in the software library of any serious player of 'the royal game'.
+
+
+Chessmaster available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $39.95. Colossus available from Firebird: P.O. Box 49, Ramsey, NJ 07446. (201) 444-5700. $39.95
+
+
+              GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+              ----------------------------------
+Chessmaster:   08    06    07   5-9    07    07
+Colossus   :   07    07    07   5-9    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/colonialconq.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+Colonial Conquest (Geopolitical Conflict Simulation for one to six players)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: one disk drive; joystick optional
+
+
+     Since the advent of personal computer gaming there have been numerous attempts to capture the excitement, complexities, and back-stabbing intensity of war strategy/diplomacy boardgames. While a few offerings, "Dark Forest" and "Lordlings of Yore" for instance, have proved very entertaining, no computer game has seriously challenged the board favorites "Risk" and "Diplomacy". Now SSI, long respected for its battlefield simulations, has taken up the gauntlet. "Colonial Conquest" is a multi-player struggle for world domination set in the days when every major power lived by the motto: "Grom or be grommed"!
+
+     A game of "'Conquest" always involves six players, one for each major colonial power: England, France, Germany, Russia, U.S.A., and Japan. Any or all positions may be human or computer directed. Your goal is grom up on enough minor and poorly managed major powers to achieve the preset victory score. Resources include armed forces, treasury, bases, and income producing holdings. The game employs six hires maps to cover the world and takes care of all record keeping (except, of course, secret agreements).
+
+     Only a few minutes into a game I gradually began to recall why it is that I and other war strategy/diplomacy devotees conduct our geopolitical conflicts via boardgames. Naturally, fortifications, naval forces, provisions for espionage and subversion, and other such embellishments are welcome. Unfortunately, a nearly unreadable display renders the game, for practical purposes, unplayable. Ownership of an area is signified via color-keyed crosshatch patterns which blur into each other obscuring borders and obliterating naval base/fortification indicators. Hopefully SSI will recall "Colonial Conquest" perhaps with the aim of issuing a IIgs, upgraded display version.
+
+
+Available from Strategic Simulations: 1046 N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043-1716. (415) 964-1353. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 04    06    03    06    05    03
+

apple/REVIEWS/contandcountrs.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Continents and Countries (Geography Knowledge Games for one or two players)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     How many times have you opened an almanac to locate some minor fact and wound up spending an extra half hour or so perusing charts comparing nation areas, income, and other statistics? Well, CBS has parlayed this curious fascination with seemingly dry geographical information into a software package targeted for almanac freaks and students of all ages.
+
+    "Continents and Countries" is a set of four activities built around a 140-country data base. In "Nation Combination" players compete to match countries in randomly dealt 'hands' with those presented by the computer for same continent, language, government, or religion. "Geo 21" is a blackjack-type game based on country areas. Each country dealt increases the value of your hand proportional to the country's area. The object is to get as close to '21' as possible without 'going bust'. "Flag Frenzy" tests your coordination and knowledge of which countries are in which continents. As continent names are flashed and flags are raised on six poles, you aim to jump your man to a pole with the flag of a country located in the continent. Successful jumps score points but misses end a turn. After five turns, high scorer wins.
+
+     The fourth and most impressive activity is not a game but rather a system to allow flexible access to "C&C's" data base. With "Country Computer" you can sort countries according to area, population, and per capita income. Sort limits are adjustable; and you can always select the "Tell Me More" option for more detailed information (language, capital, government, etc.) on any given country.
+
+     Featuring colorful graphics and full-sized keyboard overlays (for II+ and IIe), "Continents and Countries" is an attractive, easy to use learning and information resource. Typical of CBS's attention to the little 'extras' which instill pride of ownership, the package includes a detailed manual; and everything fits in a rugged, handsome plastic case. While activities are unlikely to supplant state of the art games for pure entertainment; "Continents and Countries" is ideal for adding a touch of high-tech pizzazz to anyone's geography studies.
+
+
+Available from CBS Software: One Fawcett Pl., Greenwich, CT 06836. (203) 622-2614. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 06    08    08    04    06    05/08

apple/REVIEWS/countdowns.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+COUNTDOWN TO SHUTDOWN (Maze Adventure)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     North America's chief power source, an automated reactor complex the size of a small city, has developed a small glitch; well, actually, it's overheating. If your Android Crisis Team can't repair the malfunction before core temperature reaches 10000 degrees centigrade, shutdown will plunge most of the continent into protracted darkness.
+
+     Your task in "Countdown '" is formidable. Many of the eight-level installation's 2000 plus rooms are guarded by anti-intrusion droids; nearly half the elevators don't work; some of the floors have been blown out leaving gaping pits; somewhere down on level eight is the reactor core, but no one seems to know exactly where. Fortunately you direct a team of up to eight science, repair, and combat androids entirely capable of making the best possible use of shields, weapons, repair kits, and other supplies strewn about the complex.
+
+     Featuring the fastest, smoothest, most attractive display of any major maze adventure, "Countdown to Shutdown" incorporates just enough droid-zapping arcade action to spice play. Versatile controls and an excellent, multi-team capability game save round out an adventure package that's sure to be a trend setter.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    07    08    08    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/crimsoncrown.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+THE CRIMSON CROWN (Picture-Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     Old soldiers fade away but a juicy monster lives forever in sequels. Thus, having rescued Princess Sabrina and "destroyed" the evil vampire of "Transylvania" fame, you find that your work remains unfinished. Demonstrating a singular lack of good sportsmanship, the vampire has not only returned, but killed good King John, stolen the magical Crimson Crown, and now threatens to sieze the entire kingdom.
+
+     Accompanied by Sabrina and her brother Erik, you set off on a quest to scotch the vampire and recover the crown (without which Erik may not ascend the throne). Since the vampire seems to be busy terrorizing peasants, there is plenty of time to deal with riddle-spouting gryphons, possesed cats, and bad tempered zombies; besides getting to know a friendly sage. Finding the enemy's stonghold is your main problem; and a wizard may help, if you retrieve a powerful artifact stolen by a wicked witch who lives in the west.
+
+     This game has something for everyone, including well-done graphics and even a frog prince. Every bit as challenging as its predecessor, "The Crimson Crown" is picture-text adventuring at its best.
+
+
+Available from Penguin: P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. (312) 232-1984. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    08    08    07    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/crosscntryusa.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+CROSSCOUNTRY USA (Educational Simulation for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input
+
+
+    "Crosscountry USA" represents a new wave of good-enough-to-play educational simulations. In the role of a long haul trucker, your objective is to make assigned pickups and deliveries in the best posible time while minimizing expenses.
+
+     Food, lodging, fuel, and rig depreciation are your principal costs; so the shorter the routing and quicker the the trip, the lower your expenses. However, too much speed, (besides risking tickets) can lead to costly accidents, as can long periods without food or rest.
+
+     The game both looks and plays like many adventures, accepting text commands such as "start truck", "drive sw", and "turn wipers on". Numerous attractive hires frames, some with animation, show scenery as viewed through the cab's windshield, delivery stops, diners, etc.; and the dashboard is complete down to a lights-on indicator and CB radio (to call for help). National and local map screens facilitate routing, which is point-to-point instead of following the actual interstate highway layout.
+
+     Besides a commodities list and copiable routing maps for the 180 cities represented, the package includes educational recommendations and an editor for game customizing. If you've ever felt the lure of life on the open road as a highballing trucker, then "Crosscountry USA" is bound to score a big 10-4.
+
+
+Available from Didatech: 549-810 West Broadway, Vancover, BC, Canada V5Z 4C9. (604) 687-3468. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 08    08    08    06    07    08 /08

apple/REVIEWS/decathalon.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+Synopsis: The ten events of the decathlon, brought to your own computer, which will take less than two days to play, but not much, if you're on an Apple. 
+Details: Each player(up to 6) takes turns in the ten computerized events of the decathlon. They are done in order, and your score is re-computed after each event. There are humorous messages if you mess up(like if you don't land on the mat in the pole vault, or you land face first attempting a long jump) and even chances to "train" at any one special event, after which you're told how much you would have scored. There's a nice touch in the 110m hurdles--if you jump and split your legs with the hurdles, you get the message "Ohh, that hurts." There are "disqualifications" too like when the discus hits the cage or if you jump the gun in a race or knock over two hurdles. 
+
+Graphics: Terrible, to be honest. Your runner is designated by a sideways T in the 100, 400, and 1500 meter dash. The stick figure that runs in the long and high jumps, the javelin, and the pole vault glides along without moving his legs. The hurdles are the best, where your runner actually runs and jumps. In the discus throw(which really looks like the hammer throw), you get an overhead view of a box moving forward in the circle and a line coming out of it and spinning around. Well, it's not overdone. At least the cage shakes on a wild throw. And it is minorly amusing how, if you go too far over the fault-line for long jump and javelin, the program just sort of stops. 
+
+Controls: seem to be decided on at random. You hit the 1 and 2 keys alternately in the 100 and 400, the apple keys in the hurdles, and four keys for the 1500(they mercifully spare you time there!) In some events you have no choice as to how fast you run up, and in some(the shot put) you have to use the joystick/paddles, and by the time you figure it out, having your person throw the shot put backwards(or straight up in the air) gets a bit old. For discus, you push a key to start and stop. And it's tough to figure out how to run the hurdles. I'll give the programmers this--they were creative. 
+
+Sound: Plays the olympic anthem, which is neat, before each event and at the "award ceremony" at the end. 
+
+Difficulty: It can be annoying at times. And the problem is that you have to be perfect sometimes. There's a lot of repetition involved, and you have to live with never being perfect. 
+
+Replayability: Very high. I remember playing this for hours "against" some friends and playing alone to build myself up. And there's always the goal--Bruce Jenner's record of 8618(a bit outdated now, OK, but still something to reach for!) The best feature is that you can practice any event individually. This game is such a classic and an original--the decathlon always has an air of mystique about it--that there's a lot to like. The warning messages get annoying after a while when you do something wrong(they are SSLLOOWW!!) but they're worth chasing that gold medal. 
+
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 7 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/dragon.wars.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+ Summary: Namtar, the evil wizard, has unleashed his legions over the land of Dilmun. Your object in this Bard's Tale style RPG is to find and kill him. 
+Plot: You control a group of players out to get Namtar; four are of your own creation, but you can pick up NPC's at various places. You go through a three-level game(towns on the surface, underground below that, and the Magan Underworld below that) searching for clues. There is one item you have to build and some things to avoid; often you can achieve something by brute force, but solving the puzzle is more satisfying. There are some puzzles to make the game easier(how to raise characters from the dead? There's no resurrect spell!) and some that get you a special spell(you get skill points with each level, and they can be spread among various skills. But having a magic skill only allows you to read scrolls you may find--it doesn't give you any of the spells!) There are bureaucrats and tired old dragons and even a good deal of Babylonian mythology. Many dungeons/puzzles are one-way, and this forces you to make a decision and hope you've found everything, which is a downer, but the puzzles are always captivating. And finding quick ways to get around the kingdom is nice--you don't always "have" to go one annoying, long way, except maybe the first time. For instance, guards might be posted at one entrance to a city, but there might be a secret door around them where you can disarm a trap or maybe suffer minimal damage from it--which is safer than a fight. 
+
+Controls: combat options are all displayed on the screen, to the right of the graphics. The program asks you if you want to climb any stairs you might come upon, or drink from a pool. You just use the keyboard to turn and go forward. One great thing about improving your players is that you can wait until you know what your party might need, and then you can improve a character. Also there is no clearly "best" armor--plate mail gives better protection than chain but lowers your quickness, so you need to decide. Score a strong one for realism... 
+
+Graphics: the Magan Underworld is very well-done. You are always shown the world in perspective, although you have auto-mapping too until you leave an area. The monster pictures that appear during an encounter are well-detailed, and that Dragon Wars often uses a paragraph book helps copy-protect and save more memory for special effects. There are mountain 3-d graphics, forest graphics, and general "outdoors" 3-d graphics. 
+
+Replayability: very high. You can even start over from scratch with adventurers who have won the game. There are enough places to go that you won't get tired, and because several puzzles have multiple solutions(which can use multiple traits or items or spells) and can be done in flexible orders, you can try them just for fun, too. Also, although not picking up a certain item may mean your party cannot win the current game(it's a bit unfair in this respect), you can re-start your party with the same characters and abilities, although they will lose some items. 
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 10 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/elite.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+
+Elite (Space Flight/Combat Simulation/Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64k Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick optional
+
+
+     In a two-thousand world, multi-species civilization there are many paths open to those unwilling to become 'planet bound". Few, however, can rival the freedom, challenge, and opportunity for glory offered by life as an independent trader. Firebird's Elite places you at the helm of your own "Cobra" class fighter-trader craft. 
+
+     You begin with only 100 credits, enough hyperspace fuel to reach several neighboring planets, and a rating of "harmless". (Which, with only a single, front-mounted pulse laser, pretty well describes your situation.)  Ostensively, your only aim is to achieve "Elite" status-- no easy feat, since ratings are based solely upon hard won combat kills-- but there are hints, supplied in an accompanying novelette, of still greater goals. Thus, you are lured by tales of a mysterious, Elite-only organization known as "The Dark Wheel"; and legends refer to a mythical planet, Raxxla, said to be a gateway to the knowledge and wealth of other universes!
+
+     Elite's universe spans eight 250-planet galaxies. Each planet trades in a variety of legal and contraband goods ranging from staples through luxuries, and raw materials through high-tech devices-- seventeen in all. Prices vary depending upon such characteristics as government (anarchy, feudal, ...), inhabitants (insects, birds, human, ...), main products (agricultural or industrial), and development (tech levels 1-14). 
+
+     Tech level also determines availability of such equipment upgrades as more hold space, better weapons, fuel scoops, extra energy banks, an inter-galactic drive, etc.. These, in turn, improve efficiency and combat performance, allowing more profitable commercial ventures and greater freedom to explore. 
+
+     A host of factors, especially government and cargo, affect the hazardousness of trade. For example, a "harmless" rated beginner who approaches an anarchy planet with a cargo of narcotics might just as well press "destruct"; but few pirates will be encountered near corporate state worlds, especially with cargoes like wines or furs.
+
+     All buying and selling occurs on orbiting space stations; you never actually land on a planet. Docking, hyperspace jumps, approach, and any combats are handled via comprehensive controls including speed, dive/climb, and rotate-- all in full 3-space-- with button-activated laser fire and keyboard missile targeting and launch. 
+
+     The cockpit display includes a large view of nearby space plus an excellent radar screen and indicators for shields, energy banks, speed, etc.. To aid in route planning hires "Current Galaxy" and "Local Star Group" displays with 'star-finder' cursors allow immediate access to data (except prices) on any of some 250 planets.
+
+     Featuring fast '3-D' line graphics, efficient save/restore, and a cleverly arranged data base, Elite is a well-executed blend of trading strategy, arcade, and mystery. Combats, which may involve one or more of several types of opponents, are very realistic with ships zooming in, laser fire tracers and good sound cues for hits and misses. Arcade ace skills are helpful; but success depends more upon combateer smarts and equipment than quickness. 
+
+     There are some interesting surprises, touches of humor, and you don't have to be a 'good guy' to make progress. (Still, though piracy can be exciting, it really doesn't pay well.)  Supplied with a flight manual, ship ID chart, and an entertaining, hint-packed novelette, "Elite" delivers what all those bogus trekkie spin-offs only promised-- a super long-playing, action-packed, incredibly addictive space adventure good for galaxies of fun.
+
+
+Available from Firebird: P.O. Box 49, Ramsey, NJ 07446. (201) 444-5700. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    09    08    07    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/f15.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+F-15 STRIKE EAGLE (Flight Combat Simulation)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input, joystick optional
+
+
+     The first time I tried "F-15 Strike Eagle" there was a strong temptation to add the diskette to my "open for future use" box. (How can anyone take a combat arcade with zilch for sound effects seriously?!)  But reviewers are supposed to play the games they write up, so I forced myself to study the "Flight Manual" (when all else fails...) and gave it another try.
+
+    "'Flight Eagle" is flight simulation with teeth, in this case: machine guns, bombs, and air-to-air missiles. In each of seven mission scenarios your objective is to knock out the primary targets, plus as many secondaries as possible, and get back in one piece. Complementing the armament is an excellent cockpit display and one of the most comprehensive control systems you are likely to encounter anywhere. Effective leveling moves you smoothly from "rookie" milkruns through "ace", where enemy fighters are thick as flies and everything below seems to be one big SAM installation.
+
+     There is something intrinsicly rewarding about mastering any complex new skill, and this, I suspect is the secret of "'Strike Eagle's" appeal. Admittedly, few arcades are as difficult to 'get into'; but once you take out your first primary, the game's got you. They'll have to pry your fingers off the stick.
+
+
+Available from MicroProse: 120 Lakefront Drive, Hunt Valley, MD 21030. (301) 667-1151. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    08    07    07    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/felony.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+FELONY (Parlor Game for 1 to 4 players)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input
+
+
+     Dust off your trenchcoat. "Felony", CBS's sequel to "Murder by the Dozen", is ready with twelve more dastardly deeds requiring your special attentions.
+
+     As in "Murder'" you begin with a brief crime report and, via judicious questioning and keen investigation, not only crack the case; but do so before any of your fellow sleuths. Unlike its predecessor, "Felony" offers a nice potporri of crimes; so the quarry may be a thief, forger, terrorist, or other felonious type. This is not to accuse the game designers of squeamishness (note please Case 2: The Garroted Photographer) or of otherwise letting up. If anything the new cases are even jucier and more involved than the first dozen.
+
+     At roughly ninty challenging minutes per four-player game, "Felony" is an entertainment bargain that's hard to top. Score another parlor game winner for CBS.
+
+
+Available from CBS Software: One Fawcett Pl., Greenwich, CT 06836. (203) 622-2525. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    08    06    07    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/fightnight.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Fight Night (Sports Simulation for one or two players)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     OK, so the kid's quick and his legs won't turn to rubber after a few tough rounds. The question is do you have the managing moxie to make him the next champ?! Anticipating your reply, Accolade is ready to give you a shot at the big one. Starting with 'building' one or more challengers, Fight Night takes you through training, sparring matches, and finally the championship tournament.
+
+     Your road to the bigtime begins with building one or more boxers via the game's "Construction" utility. Here you select body parts to match desired attributes such as endurance and quickness. Additional "statistics" are then adjusted to fine-tune your boxer in the areas of hitting power to/resistance for blows to head and body. When everything looks just right the new fighter is saved to disk. (The same utility allows you to edit existing fighters and even define a boxer for computer control.)
+
+     Fight Night permits a total of eight boxing movements (four stick positions with button up or down) including blows to head and body, fakes, guards, and forward/backward positioning. "Training" drills you in these moves with a punching bag target with the emphasis on rhythm. In "Sparring" you practice moves and timing against another fighter.
+
+     Once you feel ready for the 'real thing' matches are arranged in individual bouts with set, computer-controlled contenders like the "British Bulldog", or against selected boxers (perhaps some from another players stable) in a small round robin tournament. During a bout (three three-minute rounds), round, time remaining, and cummulative scores are displayed along with bar graph K.O. susceptibility indicators (so you know when to go in for the kill). If neither boxer is K.O.'d, the decision goes to the high scorer. The winner of a tournament becomes the "Champ".
+
+     Offering perhaps the finest, most comprehensive control of any one-on-one fighting simulation, Fight Night closes the loop by providing ample cues as well. Your opponent's movements actually do tell you something about what he is likely to do. Wide-ranging speed controls permit setting the action to a comfortable pace. The only notable weakness is that, for player vs. player matchups, one player must use keyboard controls instead of a second joystick. Clever and surprisingly addictive, Fight Night packs the entertainment punch you've been waiting for in a fight simulation.
+
+
+Available from Accolade: 20863 Stevens Creek Blvd., B-5/E, Cupertino, CA 95014. (408) 436-0900. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    06    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/fooblitzky.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+Fooblitzky ('Boardgame' Adventure for 2-4 players)
+Compatibility: 128K Apple IIe, IIc, IIgs
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     For years a favorite diversion of experienced game players has been speculation over the question of when (or whether) a certain well-known vendor would publish something besides a text adventure. Perhaps it is only proper that, in the year of the IIgs, Infocom should render the issue moot with the release of "Fooblitzky". Featuring color graphics, windowing, and (gasp!) animation, this full-scale boardgame without the board challenges you to adopt the role of scavenger-hunting hound and be the first to identify and retrieve four secret items.
+
+     The game is played on a 36x24-square map of downtown Fooblitzky, only one-fourth of which is shown on-screen at any given time. To make your hunt a little easier, each quadrant of the map has a drugstore, grocery, and other shops selling toys, hardware, pets, and sporting goods. Each kind of store sells the same items, one priced at four foobles, another at eight, and a third selling for sixteen foobles. All drugstores, for instance, sell hairspray (4F), toothpaste (8F), and an eyedropper (16F). Altogether, there are eighteen different items.
+
+     To start, each peerless pooch gets to decide one secret item, picked while others look away. (For two or three dog games, the computer picks the rest.) As play commences you have some money and a shopping bag which can hold four items. In addition, one of the item you chose is placed in your locker where it may be picked up at any time by moving to the appropriate square. To win you must go to a "checkpoint" square carrying all four secret items.
+
+     You can run your paws ragged, wasting time and foobles, unless the numerous clues and other available resources are employed to best advantage. The price of each secret item, displayed just prior to play, is one example. Another is the information provided by visits you and your fellow hounds make to checkpoint squares. Here carried items are listed and a display shows a check for each correct item, with an "x" for those not correct. However, checks and "x's" are not matched to specific items. (That would be too easy.)  Recognizing that all this process of elimination stuff demands careful note-taking, Infocom supplies four super-colorful, 11x17-inch laminated fold-out "workboards", each complete with map, item lists, and ample note space.
+
+     Well planned and nicely executed, "Fooblitzky" is a comprehensive computer 'boardgame' that works! For ease of play and just plain fun it actually surpasses some old tried and true die-and-token favorites. Though repleat with such embellishments as game save/restore, a "Chance Man" substitute for stacks of cards, risky street crossings (and a hospital), rapid transit via the Underground (of course) Gliding Highway, restaurants where you can earn foobles licking plates, and much more-- the game's great attraction is the underlying simplicity of the puzzle. Supplied with workboards, felt-tip pens, and superb documentation, "Fooblitzky" sets a high standard for an entirely new kind of high-interaction, multi-player entertainment.
+
+
+Available from Infocom: 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140. (617) 492-1031. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    10    07    07    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/gemstonewar.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+GEMSTONE WARRIOR (Extended Arcade)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick optional
+
+
+     When demons stole the great Gemstone humanity was deprived of its chief source of magic. Now threatened with extinction, all mankind turns to you, mightiest of warriors: fight your way through the Underworld and recover the five pieces of the Gemstone. Only thus may humankind be saved.
+
+    "Gemstone Warrior" is a high-energy adventure set in a colorful maze of caverns and corridors. Untroubled by thoughts of monster welfare, peace, or similar avatar-like ideals, your basic objective is to kill anything that moves.
+
+     Dead bodies, coffins, and chests yield gold, healing potions, extra lives, protective spells, and magic weapons, as well as restocking arrows and fireballs. With fifteen different magical artifacts (several of which have unknown uses), a major part of play is learning when to use which item. Gold, plus a juicy bonus if you rescue the stone, determine your score, the top five of which are retained on disk.
+
+     Tight controls, and a good leveling scheme result in very challenging but winnable play for beginners and berzerker-class arcaders alike. The simple game save works well and, if you are killed, restart is almost immediate. Exceptionally addictive, Gemstone Warrior rangs solidly among arcade maze gaming's best.
+
+
+Available from SSI: 883 Stierlin Road, Building A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043-1983. (415) 964-1200. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    06    08    08    07    08
+   

apple/REVIEWS/ghostbusters.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+GHOSTBUSTERS (Arcade)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB and joystick input
+
+
+     A burdgeoning ghost population has finally gotten out of hand, posing a serious threat to the quality of urban living. You can just sit around like everyone else (and wind up living in a slime bowl); OR you can open your own ghostchasing franchise, bust those turkeys, and save the city!
+
+     True to its motion picture origins, "Ghostbusters" delivers all the customers you can handle. The ghosts come rolling in, business thrives, and you can afford better equipment. Ultimately, success leads to the roof of Zuul's temple and victory. Failure can mean a disaster of truly Marshmellow proportions.
+
+     Featuring an attractive scenario and several well-executed action sequences, "Ghostbusters" nonetheless manages to deliver remarkably little real entertainment. Perhaps 60% of play involves unobstructed movement between locations; while ghost trapping is cumbersome and decidedly ho-hum.
+
+     People WATCH movies. They want to PLAY games. "Ghostbusters" is too close a copy of the movie to be an enjoyable game.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    05    07    07    03    04

apple/REVIEWS/gulfstrike.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+Gulf Strike (War Strategy Simulation for one or two players)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series, Commodore 64/128
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+
+     Demonstrating that wargames can indeed make strange bedfellows, Gulf Strike matches Iran and the U.S. (plus assorted minor allies) against Iraq and the U.S.S.R. (plus assorted puppets). Evidently, as 1988 rolls around, the Iranians (annoyed with on-going Soviet support for Iraq) significantly escalate aid to their freedom-fighting brethren in Afghanistan. 
+
+     This doesn't sit at all well with the Russians (i.e. the freedom-fightees), who have already spent several years screwing up their attempt not to botch things worse in Afghanistan than you-know-who did in Vietnam. When the Russkies enter the war on the side of Iraq this naturally provokes the U.S. and concerned Persian Gulf states to intervene in favor of their old pal, Iran. Thus does Avalon Hill contrive to produce the dream match of the decade: a U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. mini-war where neither side can do much real damage to the other.
+
+     Gulf Strike action embraces most of Iran, part of Iraq, and other lands immediately adjacent to the Persian Gulf. As a translated boardgame, the computer version incorporates a scrollable map with seventeen terrain features inflicting varying movement costs. 
+
+     Among the ground, air, and sea units you will find the expected detail and differentiation options for which Avalon Hill is justly reknown. For example, thirteen ground types include airborne, armor, artillary, marine, infantry, ... units in sizes ranging from battalion through division. Each has specific movement, attack, and defense capabilities influenced largely by your choice of formation. Air and naval units are similarly diverse, with nearly thirty aircraft types in various configurations and naval units ranging from sub groups through carriers. 
+
+     Unless the two-player version is selected, you automatically control the U.S./Iran position and all twenty-one victory point squares spread across the map. During the standard 25-turn game, your mission is to prevent the U.S.S.R./Irag side from ever holding nine of the squares.
+
+     All of this looked pretty juicy; but, perhaps an hour into a game it became clear that something was missing (something, I mean, besides a skilled player). Sure enough, a thorough check of the box confimed my worst fears: Avalon Hill had, indeed, failed to include the other computer!
+
+     This is an unfortunate oversight considering that only a small part of the map is displayed at any time and that only star and hammer & sickle identifiers appear on the main map to locate units which may be stacked eighteen (18) deep! Lacking the missing computer, you must point to a map square to obtain a unit symbols display in the "stack window" and then select a symbol to obtain unit status.
+
+     If theatre commanders had to use Gulf Strike's format to fight their wars, the battlefields of the world would be littered with plowshears. Imagine, an attractive, well-documented, fully functioning wargame THAT NOBODY CAN PLAY! Right-On, AH!
+
+
+Available from Avalon Hill: 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. (800) 638-9292. $30.00
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    02    10    04    NA

apple/REVIEWS/gunslinger.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+Gunslinger (Picture/Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+
+     As Kip Star, former Texas Ranger, you've spent a few peaceful years just wandering around the West. Then, one day, you hear that an old Ranger pal, James Badland, is fixin' to get himself hanged down in Mexico! In DataSoft's Gunslinger your mission to prevent an unfortunate miscarriage of justice soon mushrooms into a mini-war with the dangerous Dalton brothers; and you know, for sure, there's no hangin' up your irons 'til the Big Showdown!
+
+     With over one hundred hires frames Gunslinger takes you to ghost towns, saloons, abandoned mines, army forts, indian villages, and more. Throughout, your main concerns are gathering information pointing to your next destination and finding or trading for needed items. Often, too, you will need money to buy supplies, pay for tickets, and similar necessities. Gambling is one way to 'wealth'; another, slightly safer, route is working "mined-out" gold diggings. Either way, make sure your sixgun is loaded and loose in the holster. One slip and it's your money AND your life!
+
+     A remarkably violent beginning-level adventure, the game offers multi-position save/restore and employs simple, yet entirely adequate parsing. While most players will prefer keyboard entry of text; the joystick controlled "word-selector" option does allow you to scroll through all operational verbs, nouns, and prepositions (i.e. a sort of built-in hint generator). Featuring a plethora of puzzlets and almost as many well-drawn pictures as cliches', Gunslinger is sure-shooting fun for new adventure gamers.
+
+
+Available from DataSoft: 19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818) 886-5922. $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    05    07    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/halleyproject.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+THE HALLEY PROJECT (Space Flight Simulation)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick and tape casette optional
+
+
+     From among thousands of applicants, you are one of the few selected to qualify for "The Halley Project", a top-secret deep space exploration program. Completing each of ten qualification/training missions advances you one rank, beginning with "Raven", then "Shrike", all the way through the exalted designation "Starbird". Should you prove to be one of the elite, the project and the galaxy are yours!
+
+     Each mission begins with launch from a secret base on the comet and ends when you return having met all objectives. ("Land on any planet warmer than Callisto", "land on any moon smaller than Titan" are typical objectives.) While it is only necessary to complete a mission to advance, each is timed; and, along with each player's record, best mission times are maintained on disk.
+
+    "The Halley Project" incorporates a twelve-constellation star map (showing bodies of 6th magnitude or brighter) and a remarkably accurate 'real time' model of the solar system. Except for loss of the console screen view (star map) during hyperspace jumps, the model appears to operate in all aspects of play including the zoomable ("radar") display of the solar system. Planets and moons revolve, rotate, and actually change size depending on distance.
+
+     Complete down to a cockpit view of terrain when you land and a briefing tape, "The Halley Project" has it all. Boot the disk, start the tape, douse the lights, and get set for a fantastic gaming experience.
+
+
+Available from Mindscape: 3444 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. (312) 552-6922. $44.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    10    08    06    09    10

apple/REVIEWS/hero.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+H.E.R.O. (Arcade)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick input
+
+
+     The trouble with being the ace prop packer of H.E.R.O. (Helecopter Emergency Rescue Operations) is that you only get the really dirty assignments. Now there's been a mine collapse. Deadly critters have swarmed through a newly opened fissure, lava is slopping down some of the shafts; and guess who's supposed to strap on a flying suit and hop in?!
+
+    "H.E.R.O." pits you against an incredibly hazardous hazardous labyrinth and the clock at seventeen levels of difficulty ranging from "very tough" through "insane". Dynamite helps, creating needed shortcut, and a helmet lazer fries obstreperous monsters; but you will need atouch of ESP to get through areas where the lighting has failed. (As for the lava, don't touch it; it's hot!)  Each rescue recharges the power unit, restores some dynamite, and adds points to your score.
+
+     At the lowest (i.e. playable) difficulty levels the game is both tough and a good deal of fun. Failure to save high scores puts a damper on competition; but if you enjoy a solid quick-sticking challenge, "H.E.R.O." is a good bet.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    08    08    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/highstakes.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+High Stakes (Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series; IBM PC
+Requirements: One disk drive; printer optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     The trouble with making a lot of money is that the moment you start to spend it on something really fun, like race horses, people start calling you a "playboy". Then, when it turns out your trainer is stealing a fat percentage of every winning purse; and you discretely tell him he's fired-- viola! you show up in the tabloids as an ungrateful, boorish playboy. Such are the first signs that trouble looms on the horizon for Steven Scott, millionaire toy designer. In Mindscape's adaptation of the Dick Francis horse racing mystery you are the beleaguered Scott, who discovers, almost too late, that everything he's got, including his life, is on the line. This time, for sure, you're playing for "High Stakes"!
+
+     OK, so maybe you should have filed a complaint and had Leeds arrested. At least that way he wouldn't have had the chance to nearly run you down at the park AND take off with your horse, Energise, in the trailer! (Obviously the guy is a hotheaded nut; and if Energise isn't back by ...; well, the caller claimed your horse was left with another trainer.)  After such a morning it was bad enough to come home and read that nasty little piece in the paper; but why should anyone break into your workroom and wreck almost every toy model in the place? (Leeds again? an angry competitor?)  Just what the blazes is going on?!
+
+      Set in a semi-rustic preserve of racing parks and stables north of London, "High Stakes" is one of those snowballing, race against the clock adventures. Typically, you begin unconcerned as time ticks away on every move; that is, until it starts to look like a deadline of some kind is approaching. Then, when everything seems about to fall into place, there's a frantic rush to make sure you're not the one everything falls into place upon. You can count on doing some amateur detective work in this one; but, fortunately, not so much as to seriously strain the capablities of a mediocre parser backed by an efficient multi-position save/restore. Late night drives along deserted roads, sudden violence, an attractive stranger, and the smell of big money all lend a distinctly Phillip Marlowe flavor to one of Mindscspe's better role-playing fantasies.
+
+
+Available from Mindscape: 3444 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. (312) 480-7667. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    07    07    07    07    07
+

apple/REVIEWS/hitchhikguide.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 48k Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+     It's bad enough when your home is on the Demolition Department's Top Ten; But what do you do when a new interstellar bypass means the demolition of your planet? You hitchhike a ride on the nearest Vogon spaceship, of course.
+
+     Based on the best-selling novel, "Hitchhikker's Guide to the Galaxy"     quickly diverges into a kind of open-ended adventure which you win by accumulating all 400 game points. Accompanied by the eccentric alien, Ford Prefect, your odyssey includes encounters with the notorious Bugblatter Beast of Traal, personality switches, lessons in poetry appreciation, and a real braintwister of a maze.
+
+     Incorporating Infocom's excellent parsing, "Hitchikker's Guide '" is often entertaining but often frustrating as well. While the occassional requirement that a command be repeated several times enhances the atmosphere of hapless wandering; it also makes solution testing unnecessarily tiresome. Documentation and support trinkets set a new quality standard; but all the fluff in Aurthur Dent's pockets won't save this one.
+
+
+Available from Infocom: 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140. (617) 492-1031. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    10    08    09    04    05

apple/REVIEWS/impossmission.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+IMPOSSIBLE MISSION (Maze Arcade)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick input
+
+
+     When his marathon effort to crack "Penguin Invader's" 100 billion high score limit was twarted by a power failure (one penguin short of success!), something snapped in the young Elvin Atombender's brilliant mind. The world, he resolved, would pay for this gross injustice.
+
+     Now an expert in computers and robotics, Elvin is six hours away from invading the launch computers of every major power and triggering a nuclear holocaust. To save civilization you must penetrate Elvin's 32-room underground complex, discover the Control Room password, and stop the warped genius before any launch codes are issued.
+
+     Being absent minded, Elvin did write down the password; however he took the precaution of breaking it into pieces now hidden throughout his stronhold (in furniture, candy machines, etc.). Each multi-tiered room is patrolled by laser-armed robots, with lifts providing access to each tier. Fortunately, you are faster and more agile than the robots; and, better still, occassionally discover "snooze codes" which deactivate a room's guardians. In two rooms additional snooze codes may be won by sounding musical notes in the proper sequence.
+
+     The game is a nicely executed blend of several successful arcade ideas. The result is an engaging, mini-adventure challenge for thinking stick flippers everywhere
+
+
+Available from EPYX: 1043 Kiel Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 745-0700. $30.00
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    06    08    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/index.gemini

@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+# REVIEWS
+Reviews of Apple II Software
+
+## FILES
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/GShisen.Review.txt [    6149] Review of the Game GShisen by Kelvin Sherlock
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/aagamesintro.txt [    4582] Introduction to the Games of 1985 and 1986 Reviews, by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/airheart.txt [    2783] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Airheart (Adventure Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/alcazar.txt [    1533] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Alcazar: The Lost Fortress (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/aliceinwonderld.txt [    1495] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Alice in Wonderland (Picture-Text Action Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/alterego.txt [    3557] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Alter Ego (Life Simulation/Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/amazon.txt [    1402] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Amazon (Picture-Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ancartofwar.txt [    3770] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Ancient Art of War
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ar2dungeon.txt [    4585] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Alternate Reality: The Dungeon
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/archon.ii.txt [    3721] Review of Archon II by Electronic Arts
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/autoduel.txt [    3609] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Auto Duel (Arcade Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ballblazer.txt [    1251] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Ballblazer (Arcade for 1 or 2 Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/bardstale.txt [    1981] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Bard's Tale (Maze Adventure for One to Six Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/bardstale1.txt [    3404] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Tales of the Unknown, Volume 1: The Bards Tale
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/beastwar.txt [    2017] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Beast War (Strategy and Tactics)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/breakers.txt [    3494] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Breakers (Text Adventure/Novel)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/brimstone.txt [    1554] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Brimstone (Text Adventure/Novel)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/callisto.txt [    3958] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Caverns of Callisto
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/captaingood.txt [    1536] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Captain Goodnight (Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/caveoftime.txt [    3040] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Cave of Time (Picture/Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/chesscmcol.txt [    5144] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Chessmaster 2000 (Chess Player for One or Two Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/colonialconq.txt [    2216] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Colonial Conquest (Geopolitical Conflict Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/contandcountrs.txt [    2535] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Continents and Centuries (Geography Knowledge)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/countdowns.txt [    1537] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Countdown to Shutdown (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/crimsoncrown.txt [    1456] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Crimson Crown (Picture-Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/crosscntryusa.txt [    1707] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Crosscountry USA (Educational Simulation for 1 or 2 Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/decathalon.txt [    3027] Review of Decathalon
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/dragon.wars.txt [    3118] Review of DragonWars
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/elite.txt [    3992] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Elite (Space Flight/Combat Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/f15.txt [    1635] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: F-15 Strike Eagle (Flight Combat Simlations)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/felony.txt [    1196] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Felony (Parlor Game for 1 to 4 Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/fightnight.txt [    2772] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Fight Night (Sports Simulation for One or Two Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/fooblitzky.txt [    3454] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Fooblitzky (Boardgame Aventure for 2-4 Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/gemstonewar.txt [    1623] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Gemstone Warrior (Extended Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ghostbusters.txt [    1357] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Ghostbusters (Apple)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/gulfstrike.txt [    3363] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Gulf Strike (War Strategy Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/gunslinger.txt [    1889] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Gunslinger (Picture/Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/halleyproject.txt [    1831] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Halley Project (Space Flight Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/hero.txt [    1390] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: H.E.R.O. (Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/highstakes.txt [    2563] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: High Stakes (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/hitchhikguide.txt [    1395] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/impossmission.txt [    1661] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Impossible Mission (Maze Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/jawbreaker.txt [    1586] Review of Jawbreaker
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/lanterndegama.txt [    1190] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Lantern of D'Gamma (Picture-Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/lawofthewest.txt [    2896] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Law of the West (Conflict Resolution Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/littlecomppeople.txt [    2275] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Little Computer People Discovery Kit (Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/luschercolortst.txt [    3300] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Luscher Profile (Personality Profile)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/magic.candle.txt [    3826] Review of Magic Candle
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/matchwits.txt [    1342] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Match Wits (Parlor Game)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/mindpursuit.txt [    3200] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Mind Pursuit (Knowledge Game)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/mindwheel.txt [    1350] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Mindwheel (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/moebius.txt [    3342] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/murdermississ.txt [    2326] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Murder on the Mississippi (Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/natocommand.txt [    1683] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Nato Commander (War Strategy Game)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/neverendingsty.txt [    2596] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The NeverEnding Story (Picture/Text)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/nineprinces.txt [    2599] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Nine Princes in Amber (Picture Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ogre.txt [    3150] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Ogre (War Strategy Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/oo.world.info [    3206] The Magnet Previews Out of This World GS
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ootopos.txt [    3074] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Oo-Topos (Picture/Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/paperairplane.txt [    2280] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Great International Paper Airplane Construction Kit (Design/Construction Activity)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/perrymason.txt [    2857] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Perry Mason (Picture/Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/phantasi.txt [    1742] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Phantasie: Map-Maze Adventure
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/pitfall2.txt [    1599] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Pitfall II (Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/pwteacheschess.txt [    2994] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Paul Whitehead Teaches Chess (Chess Tutorial)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/railroadworks.txt [    1536] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Railroad Works (Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/reallife.txt [    2553] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Real Life (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/rescuefractalus.txt [    1416] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Rescue on Fractalus (Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ringquest.txt [    1439] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Ring Quest (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ringsofzilfin.txt [    3354] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Rings of Zilfin (Animated Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/roadrallyusa.txt [    2323] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Road-Rally U.S.A. (Educational Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/rockyhorror.txt [    2604] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Rocky Horror Show (Mini-Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/shadowkeep.txt [    1723] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Shadowkeep (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/shardofspring.txt [    3899] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Shard of Spring (Map-Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/spaceshuttle.txt [    1344] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Space Shuttle (Flight Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/spellbreaker.txt [    3126] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Spellbreaker (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/superblddash.txt [    2993] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Super BoulderDash (Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/swordofkadash.txt [    1600] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Sword of Kadash (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/tasstimesintt.txt [    2323] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Tass Times in Tonetown (Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/theeidolon.txt [    3279] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Eidolon (Maze Arcade Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/theotherside.txt [    1779] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: The Other Side (Conflict Resolution Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/tracersanction.txt [    1369] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Tracer Sanction (Picture-Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/ultima4.txt [    2327] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (Map-Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/underfire.txt [    1653] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Under Fire (War Tactics Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/warorpeace.txt [    3367] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: War or Peace? You decide! (Crisis Management Simulation)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/warriorsrealm.txt [    2865] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Warrior's Realm (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wasteland.txt [    3413] Review of Wasteland
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/werewolf.txt [    1470] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Werewolf!? (Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/willybyte.txt [    1470] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Willy Byte in the Digital Dimension (Educational Arcade)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wintergames.txt [    1593] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Winter Games (Sports Simulation for 1-8 Players)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wishbringer.txt [    1593] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Wishbringer (Text Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wizards.crown.txt [    3360] Review of Wizard's Crown
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wizardscrown.txt [    3889] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Wizard's Crown (Map-Maze Adventure)
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wwcarmen.txt [    3177] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
+
+=> gemini://informis.land/textfiles/apple/REVIEWS/wwiscarmens.txt [    1694] Games of 1985 and 1986 Review: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (Knowledge Game)
+
+

apple/REVIEWS/jawbreaker.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+ Summary: Amusing Pac-man ripoff where the object is to eat as many sweets as possible. 
+Plot: Four jawbreakers chase after your pair of teeth which attempts to clear the board of dots a Pac-Man like game. To the left of the monster pen is an alley where you can pick up various sweets, and you have four power-up pills. The main problem is that the monsters always come out of the pen the same way--and they are still "blue" when they do. 
+
+Graphics: when you finish a level, the word "winner!" pops up on the screen and a toothbrush comes out to brush your teeth. You get an extra level, too. Jawbreakers are all the same except for their color. You don't get to see your score until after the level's complete(at which time you get an extra set of teeth). However, when you are touched by a monster, you get to see your teeth fall out, which is quite funny. Sound: clacking of teeth as you eat the dots--which must be sugar pills. Even without eating monsters, you still get your teeth brushed. 
+
+Controls: arrow keys. No way to pause your character unless you run into a side wall. 
+
+Replayability: not much. The monsters aren't very smart and always follow the same pattern(it gets a little faster, and fighting fatigue is a challenge, technically, but that's it), and the levels are all the same. This game's prequel, Gobbler, is much more difficult, as is Taxman, a total Pac-man ripoff which just has different ghost names, patterns, and "treats" beneath the ghosts' pen, or Pigpen, which has pigs in place of ghosts and invisible dots. 
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 6 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/lanterndegama.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+
+LANTERN OF D'GAMMA (Picture-Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     When King Louis d'Gamma discovered his castle would soon fall to treacherous retainers, he hid his treasure as well as clues to its whereabouts and a magic lantern. Since the traitors were no good at either puzzles or math, the legendary hoard remains to this day, unclaimed and waiting for someone like you to solve the ancient mystery.
+
+    "Lantern of D'Gamma" is intended as a fun way to involve young adventurers in using middle school math skills. While the interesting worksheets may help, the game is more likely to produce a bumper crop of English majors, all dedicated to writing better computer adventures. Aside from weak parsing, there are numerous fatal traps and no provisions for saving a game. (I typed in "SAVE" at one point and the game simply bombed.)  Hopefully, "Lantern..." will be recalled before it puts out too many lights."
+
+
+Available from Milliken: P.O. Box 21579, St. Louis, MO 63132-0579. (314)-991-4220. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    02    08    07    03 /03

apple/REVIEWS/lawofthewest.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+Law of the West (Conflict Resolution Simulation)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     Well, pardner, there's not much left of the Old West, just a few dusty saloons, boring TV commercials, and (thank goodness) some computer games. In Accolade's "Law of the West" you are the sheriff of Gold Gulch, a rough little place straight of of "Gun Smoke". Here you encounter the expected mix of peaceful townsfolk, drifters, crooks, bullies, and desperados. Some will test you gunhand; some, your nose for crime; and a few will try your romantic expertise. Each, if only subtly, challenges your authority and ability to maintain order.
+
+     Law of the West operates very much like the training villages employed by some law enforcement agencies. You find yourself standing near a saloon, bank, railroad station, etc. and someone walks out into the street and begins the encounter. You might get "Howdy Sheriff, I hear you're pretty fast with a gun" from a desperado or "Hi Sheriff, I know a secret; but I won't tell" from the town brat. 
+
+     The program then offers several response options generally ranging in character from wimp to hard nosed. Each conversation normally involves three or four such exchanges, unless someone goes for a gun. In fact, once you get the hang of aiming your '45, you can guarantee that YOU won't ever be shot simply by blowing away everyone you meet. (Except that this approach pretty well ruins your "innocent citizens killed" and "romance" scores.)
+
+     Your principal aims in each encounter vary according to the context. For instance, you would like to become friends with the pretty schoolmarm, avoid a shootout with a gunfighter, encourage the town doctor to stop drinking (otherwise he may not be available when you're wounded), etc.. 
+
+     An overriding concern is to prevent crime; so you may have to dig to obtain warning of an impending bank robbery. Each such alert switches you to the scene and you have a chance to chalk-up a few "crime prevention" points. If you are not killed first, after fifteen or so encounters the game ends and your performance is scored.
+
+     Law of the West is attractive, fun to play, and surprisingly challenging. Evidently, a fair ammount  of thought went into the conversation sequences (making the game an excellent model for real world human relations training packages). Except that high scores are not saved, the main weakness is the obvious limit on replays (there are only about a dozen characters) once a player becomes adept in the role of sheriff. For best value, you may wish to reserve the game for parties; it's sure to be a hit.
+
+
+Available from Accolade: 20863 Stevens Creek Blvd., B-5/E, Cupertino, CA 95014. (408) 436-0900. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    07    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/littlecomppeople.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Little Computer People Discovery Kit (Simulation)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     Probably, like any clear-thinking computer user, you tend to view the occassional glitch as having a 'perfectly reasonable explanation', (power surges, component failure, even human error).  Such, in fact was the predisposition of Activision's Glitch Research Team; that is until their amazing discovery that little human-like people actually live in computers! We now know that these little computer people (LCP's) produce otherwise inexplicable glitches largely by accident, though sometimes out of boredom or in a bid for attention.
+
+     The above, at least, is the gist of Activision's press release. Well, I'm not just anybody's fool; nor am I the empty-headed, gullible tuft hunter some may imagine. Immediately upon receipt of my LCP research package I booted the "House on a Disk" and waited to see what might transpire. Imagine, if you will, my astonishment when an honest-to-goodness LCP showed up and shyly began to inspect the offered residence! 
+
+     Before long I was filling the water tank and leaving groceries and dogfood at the front door. An LCP, it seems, almost invariably owns and LCD. (Indeed, Activision has requested notification if an LCP fails to be accompanied by his dog.)
+
+     As suggested in kit materials, LCP's seem to appreciate music and so record albums make great mood boosters. (For a contented LCP, it's important to respond to mood changes.)  Even better, my LCP especially enjoys games, enthusiastically playing "Card War", anagrams, and draw poker. Verbal communications are still at the rudimentary stage. However if I type "Please light a fire" or make a similarly simple request, he will often comply.
+
+     Each research kit comes with full documentation, a deed (for the house), and suggestions for record keeping. Needless to say, I am thoroughly convinced of the significance of LCP's and the validity of the "House on a Disk" method. (Seeing, after all, is believing!)
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7286, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    08    07    04    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/luschercolortst.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+The Luscher Profile (Personality Profile)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, second drive and printer optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Hardly anything is more interesting to people than people, particularly when the person is oneself. Perhaps with this in mind, Mindscape has taken the unusual step of releasing a well-known personality assessment instrument. The "Luscher Profile" (sometimes "Luscher Color Test") has long been popular magazine fare-- usually in quickie form-- because it is easy to present and fun to take, and because it possesses good "face validity". That is, most people know that color affects behavior and are willing to believe that, conversely, color preferences can tell us something about ourselves.
+
+     Mindscape's "long version" of the "Luscher Profile" comes in an attractive booksize folder which holds the diskette, fold-out color cards, and directions manual. The latter proved largely superfluous given explicit program menus and straight-forward test procedures. To obtain a profile you simply enter your name, turn to the first test card, and follow step-by-step prompts. Approximately half the test consists of ranking five or six color squares in order of preference, with the remainder involving selections from color pairs. Altogether, a complete testing requires five to ten minutes.
+
+     The program takes care of all analysis and develops a profile arranged under several headings. These address current mood; needs, desires, and goals; motivations, emotional involvements, response to challenges, future expectations, and "things to consider". Averaging four or five sentences per heading, results may be read directly from the screen or, for more leisurely perusal, from a printout. Since a Luscher profile represents the instrument's view of your current status, you may wish to save yours for comparison with subsequent testings. The program permits storing profiles on a separate diskette and even includes an option for individual passwords to protect confidentiality.
+
+     Response to the profile has been very positive, indeed, surprisingly so. Evidently, most people feel unthreatened by an instrument which, unlike a questionnaire, requires no obviously personal responses; even though the resulting analysis is supposed to be a "personal" profile. Of course, it helps that discussions are objective and non-judgemental; and it is easy to take home-computer-generated statements with a grain of salt-- always a healthy attitude. Accuracy, at least in my case, was good; though, of necessity, such evaluations cannot be very specific.
+
+     Perhaps the only real weakness is in the area of 'hard test' documentation. It is nice to know that the profile was developed by a respected psychologist (Max Luscher) and that it is widely used in Europe; but specific data on standardization, validity, reliability, and recommended time between retests would be welcomed. Still, Mindscape's "Luscher Profile" is a very slick, smooth-running package, at once insightful and uniquely entertaining.
+
+
+Available from Mindscape: 3444 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. (312) 480-7667. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    08    NA    08    07

apple/REVIEWS/magic.candle.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Summary: The demon Dreax will burst the magic bubble he has been trapped in unless you can get to the hidden valley and cast the spell that will relegate him to captivity forever. But you are limited to a thousand days or even less depending on the difficulty you choose. 
+Plot: you're sort of thrown out there with little idea of where to go. Fortunately you can learn pretty quickly--there are many quests you can start right away--and there's a lot to do. Towns' time advances realistically. Gates open and close at dawn and dusk, and people appear and disappear. There are towers of monsters you can try to clear off, or you can figure out a way to teleport yourself. Your characters can improve slowly through using their skills, or there are eight sleeping gods you can wake to improve attributes. Part of the difficulty of Magic Candle is deciding which quest is really necessary and which isn't. It's possible to avoid some quests entirely and still win, although solving the unnecessary ones add color to the game. 
+
+Graphics: Combat is always on the same background outside or inside, but the outside world is done very well. The towns are also likably constructed. The houses' roofs make them believable, and there are many entertaining different icons for the people you meet as well as for rooms in houses, etc. you may enter. Sound: amusing at first when you cast spells and, better yet, can be turned off afterwards, although it's useful for telling if there's an enemy nearby. 
+
+Controls: they are listed at the bottom of the screen, and the first letter of any of these commands executes that one. Very handy. One of the best features is being able to break up a party so that one person can go to a shop and work for money or learn magic or weaponry or even charisma at a guild. The party isn't stuck together, and you get the feeling your players can "do their own thing." You may even have to disband temporarily to squeeze by a tight spot, one-half of your players after the other. Even resting the party(camping on land, or voyaging from one seaport to another) is intricate--you can decide who does what(hunt, keep watch, memorize spells--which is a neat alternative to the bland "spell points" and forces you to manage time and resources.) Combat is great, because you can often set up beforehand. Although it is always done manually, combat doesn't happen terribly often, and you improve more from it. You can even flee to a town, although it will cost you energy--and if you flee from opponents, they don't always disappear. A nice challenging touch, although you may not enjoy it while you're trying to flee. You also have to "eat"--not just food you can hunt for or buy, but mushrooms. Which are useful, when, is tough to figure out. It's hard to remember what mushrooms do what, but the names-drelin, gonshi and luffin among them--are really cool, much like character names(Ziyx) and location names(Shertuz or Merg). Cool names do not an adventure game make, but they help a whole lot to make it memorable. 
+
+Replayability: A lot. You can play at different levels--hard, easy, or medium--and with each one, there are not just the puzzles to get items but also practical puzzles--how to get a party started quickly and keep it going. You can also summon different characters. In one way, it restricts you, but in another way, you're not just waiting around for the best role of the dice and really have to make a conscious choice. By the time you're done you're sure to have forgotten some of the earlier puzzles, which will still be a challenge. And besides, this is one of those games that come with a ton of neat fantasy names for places, people and spells. The monsters are balanced against your party very well, giving a very good degree of challenge. 
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 9 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/matchwits.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+MATCH WITS (Parlor Game for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input
+
+
+     Patterned after TV's long-running "Concentration", "Match Wits" challenges knowledge, memory, and intuition on a broad front. Even better, the supply of rebus-based matching contests is close to inexhaustible.
+
+     As in the gameshow, play begins with a blank (5x6) grid and you try to locate hidden pairs specifying x,y coordinates of selected squares. So, on a sports grid, "1,1" ("Dallas") and "3,4" ("Cowboys") would be a match. The puzzle pieces at 1,1 and 3,4 are revealed and the player has a chance to enter the solution. Points are awarded for each match; but the lion's share goes to the first player or team to solve the puzzle. After three puzzles, the side with the most points wins.
+
+     Except for the unfortunate omission of x,y labeling (necessitating a good deal of square counting and a few complaints), "Match Wits" has been well-received in small group play testing. Six on-disk categories, with provisions for adding ten more of your own, add up to long lasting parlor game fun.
+
+
+Available from CBS Software: One Fawcett Pl., Greenwich, CT 06836. (203) 622-2525. $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    07    06    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/mindpursuit.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Mind Pursuit (Knowledge Game for one to four players or teams)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; SpeeDemon optional
+
+
+     When Trivial Pursuit hit the boardgame market like a bombshell, computer game designers were quick to see their own medium's potential. What, after all, could be more made-for-computer than a data base with a few bells and whistles? The resulting packages, while not altogether unsuccessful, have demonstrated that a worthwhile trivia game is not such a trivial design task. Practically everyone underestimates human memory; and publishers have been shocked by the rapidity with which several hundred juicy questions become 'old favorites'and, thus, obsolete. A good many otherwise decent knowledge games have proved to be remarkably short-lived entertainment values.
+
+     Mind Pursuit is DataSoft's new entry in the trivia sweepstakes. Modestly labeled "the ultimate test of information and knowledge", the game features a large question base covering five areas: science and nature, history and geography, TV and films, sports and games, and culture. Questions occupy two diskette sides with at least one supplemental question diskette available from the publisher.
+
+     Recognizing that flexibility and variety in format play a major role in otherwise dry question-answer contests, DataSoft offers occassional sound and picture clues plus several game arrangement options. You can play the mainly-text version to a preset point or time limit; or you may choose to race along a chutes and ladders-type gameboard-- all with or without a question timer.
+
+     Since each question's category is randomly selected (you press a key to stop the roll of an on-screen die), Mind Pursuit mitigates the impact of chance by offering questions in three flavors. Fill-in-the-blankers score 100 points; multiple choice types are worth 50; and you make just 25 points on true/false questions. Except on the gameboard, wrong answers subtract; so the correct strategy might just balance an over-confident opponent's edge in knowledge. On the gameboard, question 'flavor' availability is limited by point value of accessible squares. Here strategy involves such choices as selecting a 50-pointer to traverse two 25-point squares or taking a shortcut consisting mainly of 100-point squares. Finally, a sixth "Grab Bag" 'category' awards an accurate response with a shot at another question on the same turn.
+
+     As claimed, Mind Pursuit evidences significantly reduced occurance of question repeats vis-a-vis similar products. Game speed is adequate, though still perhaps half what it should be; and there is no provision for saving and displaying winning scores. Still, of the several trivia/knowledge buffs who tried the game all proclaimed it the best, most enjoyable computer contest of its kind. Smooth running, attractive, and challenging, Mind Pursuit is a solid investment in parlor gaming fun.
+
+
+Available from DataSoft: 19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818) 886-5922. $29.95 (Supplemental Diskette: $14.95)
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    06    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/mindwheel.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Mindwheel (Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 48k Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drive; Second drive and 80-column card optional
+
+     Convinced that modern civilization teeters on the brink of disaster, you agree to become the subject of a uniquely hazardous experiment in mind travel. If all goes well, Dr. Virgil's neuromatrix will enable you to explore four dead, yet still powerful minds, journey back to mankind's dawn, and return with the Wheel of Wisdom.
+
+     Each of the four minds, (a rock music star, a dictator, a poet, and a scientist) imposes its own reality and images. Your task in each reality is to locate helpful items and uncover clues to the Wheel's 'location'. As might be expected, the more interesting, more alien situations arise near the boundaries between minds.
+
+    "Mindwheel" is called "an electronic novel" largely because it is an extension of a hardback manual/unfinished novel included in the package. While the nicely illustrated book is something of a treasure in itself, the game depends too much upon battering the player with hints and not enough upon good parsing and individual initiative.
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1170. $44.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    10    08    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/moebius.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+
+MOEBIUS: THE ORB OF CELESTIAL HARMONY
+List Price: $59.95  from Origin Systems, Inc.
+Requires: Apple II Plus, IIe, or IIc; 64K RAM; one disk drive; second drive optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Long ago Moebius explored the land of Khantun on each of the four material planes: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Discovering the destructive nature of each realm's patron elemental, he fashioned "The Orb of Celestial Harmony", a crystal globe in which the great Forces were imprisoned and thus brought into balance. Alas, one Kaimen, perhaps the most brilliant of Moebius's desciples, has stolen the Orb, released the elementals, and established a reign of terror through all Khantun. As one faithful to the Principles of Harmony, your task is to achieve the realm of Fire, vanquish Kaimen, and reclaim the Orb.
+
+     Somewhat in the mold of "Ultima" and "Questron", "Moebius" features a Kung Fu theme replete with tiger- infested bamboo forests, shrines subverted by spell-casting evil monks, sprawling palaces, and dismal prisons patrolled by vicious guards. Ninja assassins silence opponents of their dark lord and, just to let you know who's boss, hanging on poles about the countryside are the corpses of Kaimen's latest 'examples'. Nor are such adversaries the sole challenge. In this stricken land one can easily perish from lack of food or water; and at night the display goes black, opening the way to surprise attack.
+
+     In questing for the restoration of harmony much of play, in fact, involves a fairly close balancing of challenges and resources. A pure karma allows you to contact peasants who will offer food, torches, and valuable information; and some treasure chests yield enchanted lenses which help locate drinkable water on a special map display. The good monks you liberate supply charms and prayers imparting such magical abilities as waterwalking, teleportation, and invisibility; but using magic is cumbersome, besides draining away "body" and "mind" points. Combat victories strengthen karma, increase "experience", and lead to promotion. Yet there is always some risk of defeat resulting in the loss of karma or even death.
+
+     Possibly the best planned and most active of any major adventure, "Moebius" incorporates innovations certain to impact future game releases. Armed or bare-handed, combat is resolved via an expertly illustrated, smoothly animated "Karateka"-type sequence in which you direct your character's every fighting movement. Particularly at higher speed settings, the action is very convincing with none of the drudgery which seems to plague other combat schemes. While maps boast a smaller square count than, for instance, "Ultima III", the scale is doubled resulting in much improved detail and a realistic viewing range. Rather than floating above the landscape as a player; you are a participant, IN the scene.
+
+     Supported in typical Origin Systems fashion (including a nifty ninja-type scarf!) the game does, none the less, take a bit of 'getting into'. (Hint: Don't spend alot of time picking good names for your first two or three characters.)  Remarkably grim yet curiously addictive, Moebius is a uniquely exhilarating long-play gaming experience.
+
+
+Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony
+Origin Systems, Inc.
+340 Harvey Rd.
+Manchester, NH 03103
+(603) 644-3360

apple/REVIEWS/natocommand.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+NATO COMMANDER (War Strategy Game for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input, joystick optional
+
+
+     Barely a week after being sworn in as NATO's new commander you begin to receive some very disturbing reports from East Germany. The situation quickly escalates as workers take to the streets, rumors of "reunification talks" surface, and Warsaw Pact forces crunch toward the frontier. This time the Russians really are coming!
+
+     In "NATO Commander" your task is to slow the WP advance until the West's air superiority and reserves can turn the tide. Eight unit types ranging from mechanized infantry through tactical nukes, and control down to the brigade level offer numerous options. However, these soon shrink to a precious few once the political importance of cities, the need to protect SAM and air bases, and the strategic significance of the "Fulda Gap" are assessed.
+
+     A scrolling situation map displays major terrain features, NATO and WP forces, and important cities. It is also the medium, via a cursor, for issuing orders to selected units. Incidently, since combats are resolved on an on-going basis, if you do nothing the WP will simply march across the map.
+
+     Smooth running and easy to play, "NATO Commander" is, none the less, very challenging. If you've ever considered trying a wargame, but wanted something you could really 'get your teeth into; this is the one to go for.
+
+
+Available from MicroProse: 120 Lakefront Drive, Hunt Valley, MD 21030. (301) 667-1151. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    07    08    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/neverendingsty.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+
+The Never Ending Story (Picture/Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Scientific scepticism, the "realistic" approach to child rearing, and similar influences have taken their toll on Fantasia. Indeed, the personification of disbelief, known as the Great All Consuming Nothing, is swallowing the land of imagination and wonder at an alarming rate. In DataSoft's "The Never Ending Story" you are Atreyu, a boy of magical Fantasia whom fate has chosen to restore faith in fantasy and thus turn back the Nothing before it munches your land into extinction.
+
+     As in the movie your quest is two-pronged. In Fantasia you must find Auryn, an amulet symbolizing the land's magical powers, penetrate the Ivory Tower, and restore the stricken Empress. Meanwhile, back in the mundane world, young Bastian Bux is in a dusty attic reading about your adventures. As Atreyu makes progress, Bastian's belief in the realm of magic grows. With success in Fantasia Bastian's faith is confirmed and the Nothing is vanquished (reduced to nothingness?)  Pop metaphysics aside, your main tasks are to befriend key characters (such as Falkor the luckdragon), collect twenty or so needed items, and look for clues for guidance through each of three "levels". Except for Gmork, the Nothing's henchman, there are few hazards; and, with a minimal parser recognizing fewer than forty commands, not much room for complications either.
+
+     Though offering decent (one-third screen) graphics, above average sound, and efficient save/restore routines, the game is beset by some unfortunate embellishments. Notably, the psuedo-cursive script is difficult to read; and the Nothing continues its advances whether or not you are moving. The latter is especially bothersome since you end up having to enter "PAUSE" frequently just to keep the program from displaying its notification (that time has passed) and scrolling out the text you are trying to read. Representing a Mr. Rogers-class challenge wrapped in a cliche'-ridden clap-if-you-believe-in-magic scenario, "The Never Ending Story" might work as a parent plus child undertaking. Otherwise, score one for the Great Nothing.
+
+
+Available from DataSoft: 19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818) 886-5922. $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    05    07    05    06    05
+
+ rtaking. Otherwise, score one for the Great Nothing.
+
+
+Available from DataSoft: 19808 Nordhoff Place, Chatsworth, CA 91311. (818) 886-5922. $29.95
+

apple/REVIEWS/nineprinces.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Nine Princes in Amber (Picture/Text Adventure/Novel)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive optional
+
+
+     Granted, ther is nothing especially bizaar about about waking up in a hospital room with a cast on your leg. But when you subsequently smash a hypo-wielding killer senseless with a single punch, rip off the cast, and walk out as good as new-- well, that's a different matter. In Telarium's adventure game production of Roger Zelazny's first two Amber stories, you begin as the victim of an auto "accident" which jogs long dormant memories of an amazing personal history and of a place called "Amber".
+
+     A jewel of a city shining in medieval splendor, only Amber is real; other "realities" are but reflections or "shadows". As Corwin, a prince of Amber, you have many gifts (such as extrodinary strength); but most important is the ability to 'walk through shadows'-- in effect creating alternative realities. 
+
+     Your brothers and sisters, alas, are similarly gifted; and, with the throne vacant, all are engaged in a deadly, cutthroat competition for power. Now you will return to Amber and 'walk the Pattern' to fully restore your memory and powers. Then, just maybe, you can manage to sieze the throne for yourself!
+
+     Nine Princes in Amber is an attractive presentation offering good artwork, music, adequate save/restore, and elaborate prose. However, except for a clever little puzzle to challenge your pattern-walking savvy, the game is slavishly faithful to the original story line, hardly qualifying as an "adaptation" at all. That Telarium would bother to claim "...there are forty possible final endings" is as good a tipoff as any: this is a highly structured, low player initiative piece of gaming software. I've tried numerous deviations from the original line; and, so far, all have led quickly to unfavorable endings, usually fatal.
+
+     While there is some attempt to simulate the bargaining, making and breaking of alliances, and other wheeling-dealing (i.e. the real 'meat' of the Amber series), anything remotely involved is beyond the program. More often than not, a non-committal "SHRUG" is sufficient to move things along in the right direction. With minimal parsing operating mainly as a page-turner, Nine Princes is one way to explore the world of Amber; a better approach is to read the books.
+
+
+Available from Telarium: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. (617)-494-1200. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    06    06    05    05

apple/REVIEWS/ogre.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+Ogre (War Strategy Simulation)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick or mouse optional
+
+
+     By the mid-21st century effective countermeasures have rendered tactical nukes virtually useless. Taken along with the development of bi-phase carbide ("BPC") armor and atomic engines the inevitable result is that tanks once again rule the battlefield. To be sure, there are tanks and then there are TANKS. The former, truly awesome by 20th century standards, include the massive "heavy tank", long-reach "missile tank", and fast-moving ground effect vehicle ("GEV"). 
+
+     There is really only one TANK: the cybernetic attack machine. Up to 50 meters in length and wrapped in three meters of BPC plate; once launched these unmanned juggernauts recognize just one command. That command is "Destroy!"; and in the 21st century the TANK is called an "OGRE".
+
+     The "Ogre" battlefield is a 15x22 scrollable grid of which about half is visable at any time. Rubble and craters restrict or block movement, thus giving each field a unique character. Each contest involves three major phases: loading-in or design of a battlefield, defensive player placement of units and command post, entry of the Ogre and subsequent battle.
+
+     Like many wargames, Origin System's Ogre recognizes varying levels of victory. In the single-player version your primary concern is to prevent the destruction of your command post (normally placed somewhere near the top of the battlefield, farthest from Ogre's entry point).  Only if a sizable chunck of your forces are in-tact and the Ogre does not escape can you claim "complete victory". (A nice distinction, since the Ogre is much more likely to "escape" all over your position, reducing it to rubble.)  In a two-player game the Ogre player must destroy everything to claim an unblemished win.
+
+     Of course, as defender you are not exactly without resources. Along with the tanks already mentioned, you may deploy long-range (but non-movable) howitzers and BPC armor-suited infantry units. In fact, though "standard game" battlefield's, infantry, and armor units are defined for scenarios involving the Mark III and even more powerful Mark V Ogre's, the program itself imposes no restrictions upon numbers or placement of any unit or upon battlefield characteristics. Add the option to set the "skill level" of the Ogre you face (in the one-player game), and the tactical possibilities are endless.
+
+     The game is supplied with manuals, reference card, and a plastic clip-on radiation exposure badge which, Origin claims, "really works". (I decided not to test it.)  Setup is a snap, especially if you start with one of the pre-designed battlefields; and explicit pull-down menus guide you through each phase. With smooth, clear graphics, sound effects, and convenient, uncomplicated controls, Ogre ammounts to the niftiest tactical wargaming kit ever.
+
+
+Available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    08    07   7-8    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/oo.world.info

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+
+_______________________________________________________________________________
+
+[ Subject ] :Out of This World GS (Demo?)
+[ From    ] :The Magnet (#1)
+[ To      ] :All
+[ Date    ] :05/21/92  03:01:45 PM
+_______________________________________________________________________________
+
+I'm not sure if Out of This World is a demo or not, but I can say it's
+probably not the 100% complete version. BUT I have reason to believe that his
+version is about 95% complete.
+
+When you first run it, it asks you for your viewing preference:
+  16mm means the entire screen ; this mode is sluggish even on my 7Mhz Zip GS
+  34mm is about 2/3 of the screen ; it's bearable and is recommended by me
+  70mm is only half the screen, very narrow sorta like watching a movie on TV 
+  Television is same as 70mm from what I've seen.. I can't tell any difference.
+
+For the controls, I can't get joystick to work anyways, so lets just say
+keyboard. or either one you pick don't matter since you can use keyboard.
+
+It seems that you just watch the guy drive up in the Ferrari, do his
+experiment and it fails and he gets blown into Another World, or blown Out of
+This World (whichever name you choose, since in IBM, both names have been used
+and released, same game). After this it seems to have just freeze. This is the
+FIRST and ONLY program ever I've seen on the GS that disables not only
+control-reset, and not only control-oa-reset, but even the fake cold boot of
+control-oa-OPTION-reset!! The only way is to turn off the computer!! Holy cow
+to Bill..
+
+Anyways, upon my further examination, I found out the following keys:
+
+A - Accept/Action (acts like return when choosing PW)
+Q - Quit the game/demo
+C - Choose Password to different levels (use arrows to move cursor)
+
+OK: There are 22 level codes to this game and I've tried all of them and they all work except for the last one. This is how to do it:
+
+After the demo, or while in the demo, press C anytime and password screen will
+come up. Enter the 4 letter PW in my pw list file and you will go to that
+level! While in the game:
+
+A - Shoot (if you have the laser gun) or Step On worms and leeches (when first
+    starting game.
+Z - Jump
+Arrows - move in that direction.  Hold down A and Arrows to Run in direction.
+
+After you pick the level, you're actually playing the game!! This is a very
+difficult game from what I've played, especially since I haven't figured out
+how to use the joystick.
+
+When shooting with A : hold down for a few seconds to build a shield in front
+of you that'll block off the enemy's laser. You have to build shield, hide
+behind shield and try to shoot the enemy. It might sound easy, but remember
+that your enemy is doing the same and he's much better at it than you are.
+
+----
+
+Anyways, that's about all I've found out about this game, and I'm including
+this file in the Out of This World archieve so it can help people get
+started...actually let me tell you for the first level after the introduction:
+You and your desk appear under water, you have to hold down the UP arrow to swim up right away or you'll be pulled down under and die. Good luck!
+
+The Magnet
+_______________________________________________________________________________
+

apple/REVIEWS/ootopos.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+
+Oo-Topos (Picture/Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, 128K and double hires optional
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     Unbeknownst to Earth, an interstellar carrier has been zapped by meteors and now an enormous life-extinguishing cloud of transfusion waste is headed towards the planet. You've been hired by the Space Ecological society to deliver the seeds of a neutralizing compound and are well on your way when alien space pirate types ground your ship on a rock named "Oo-Topos" and toss you into a cell. Unless you can escape and deliver the goods in time, there will be some very red faces at the next S.E.S. convention-- even if there are no complaints from Earth!
+
+     In Penguin's "Oo-Topos" busting out of a crackerbox cell proves to be the least of your problems. Even staying out is easy, since most of the pirates are off with the fleet on a raid. Unhappily, your trusty Astro series spacer is not just parked downstairs, waiting and ready. It's 'out there' somewhere, untroubled by rust in Oo-Topos's tangy ammonia atmosphere; and, wouldn't you know, somebody has tossed your spacesuit down a garbage chute! Not that you're going anywhere until the tractor beam pinning your craft to this rock is turned off and certain vital components, scattered around the base, have been recovered and reinstalled. Otherwise, except for poison gas and radiation hazards, aliens which are invisible unless you can find the proper goggles, and an ever alert robot sentinel...; well, it's smooth sailing!
+
+     Winning Oo-Topos is chiefly a matter of cracking many small puzzles and good mapping. The latter poses special difficulties since, until you find a light, several rooms are dark; and the only access to at least one key area is via a maze-like system of five-way transfer tubes. Granted, knowing how to get somewhere quickly is merely a convenience for most of the adventure. However, once the inevitable fleet recall signal is broadcast, a good map is worth its weight in vegan silver. While there are relatively few fatal traps per se, with many little puzzlets and numerous items to locate and use correctly, it is easy to make fatal errors. The game's super efficient, three-position save/restore feature proved a great aid for mapping and solution testing.
+
+     A solid, mid-level challenge, "Oo-Topos" is one of an all too rare breed: a text-input adventure which doesn't exceed the capabilities of its parsing. Penguin's respected "Comprehend" parser fits the game like a glove; so you will seldom, if ever, find yourself unable to try out a promising idea. Add exceptional artwork optionally available in double hires, and the result is a package approaching the mythical "Infocom with pictures" standard. Clever and often humorous, if you are ready to save the Earth, "Oo-Topos" is the fun way to do it!
+
+
+Available from Penguin: P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. (312) 232-1984. $17.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    08    07    08    08
+

apple/REVIEWS/paperairplane.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+The Great International Paper Airplane Construction Kit (Design/Construction Activity)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, dot-matrix printer; second drive, hard disk optional
+
+
+     Beyond question, the design, production, and flight of paper airplanes ranks high among man's more rewarding liesure time pursuits. Here creativity and craftsmanship meet their ultimate challenge and any test launch may signal dramatic breakthroughs. (Will the Zarf B's radical new wing configuration give it the lift and stability to surpass the Zarf A's hallflight record? How will it handle air conditioner vent turbulence?).  Recognizing the obvious potential for computer aided design and manufacturing in such a high-tech field, Simon & Schuster has introduced a CAD/CAM package guarenteed to revolutionize you paper airplane development capabilities.
+
+     The Great International Paper Airplane Construction Kit ("GIPACK") consists of an 80-page large format manual, reference card, and diskette. After describing program operation and offering a few helpful hints, the bulk of the manual is devoted to the thirteen planes available on the diskette. There is a photograph of each plane, a short blurb describing awards won and flight characteristics, and how-to diagrams for cutting and folding. Later on, each of the diskette's hires templates is reproduced, both with and without markings. The remaining pages depict available markings (e.g. wingflaps, logos, numbers, etc.).
+
+     Since the program's only functions are to access and printout plane templates (standard hires picture files), you will need to call upon your favorite graphics utility to modify existing designs, create new ones, and to lift and add markings. (The manual recommends "Mouse Paint".)
+
+    "GIPACK" is a clever idea which just happens to produce paper airplanes that actually perform. The archetypal executive status symbol, yet suitable for children of all ages, it will produce many afternoon's worth of fodder for the active hand and mind.
+
+
+Available from Simon & Schuster : 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. (212) 333-2882. $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    08    06    04    06    07

apple/REVIEWS/perrymason.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+
+Perry Mason (Picture/Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive optional
+
+
+     When Perry Mason agrees to defend Laura Kapp, arrested for the murder of her restaurateur husband, Victor, there is really only one question. Since his client is obviously as pure as the driven snow, who did it? 
+
+     In Telarium's Perry Mason: The Case of the Mandarin Murders you take the role of the famed attorney, ably assisted by investigator Paul Drake and your secretary, Della Street. As usual, it looks like everything is stacked in the prosecution's favor; and if you can't nail the real murderer, little Laura could take the Big Fall!
+
+     In several respects an unusual sort of adventure, Perry Mason is arranged in two major phases: investigation and trial. (Just like the TV series.)  Since poor Victor was found shot to death in the Kapp's swanky apartment (with an unconscious, gun-wielding Laura nearby), you begin with a room-by-room serch for clues. 
+
+     Whether you follow Sargent Holcomb's admonition not to remove anything is your decision; but it's important to get a good look at everything now, since it may be your last chance. Probably, visiting your jailed client is a good idea; and you will definitely want to call on Drake's expertise and Della's talent for persuading hesitant witnesses.
+
+     One thing you don't lack is suspects. Besides the doorman, and a restaurant critic, there's an ex-business partner and Margot Duboq (Victor's mistress?), whom Drake describes as "a curvy little croissant"-- among others. Remember, you haven't got all year to check out these characters. In this game the wheels of justice grind like a chainsaw; and before you know it, you're in court.
+
+     The coup de grace, one way or the other, is delivered in the courtroom. Here you may call, examine, and cross-examine witnesses, introduce evidence, and even engage in your justly famous theatrics. Paul and Della are still ready to help; but D.A. Hamilton Burger is a tough adversary, so don't be overly discouraged if things don't pan out the first few times you try the case. (Laura's the one who should be discouraged!)
+
+     Telarium has expended a good deal of effort to make its mystery/trial adventure both playable and realistic. Parsing is entirely adequate, especially with accompanying word lists, a chart on "sentence building", and explicit descriptions of game courtroom procedures. Offering good art work, multi-place save/restore, and surprisingly detailed characters, Perry Mason is an innovative, challenging, and entertaining approach to long popular themes.
+
+
+Available from Telarium: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. (617)-494-1200. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    08    07    08    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/phantasi.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+PHANTASIE (Map-Maze Adventure for one or more players)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     Evil times have befallen the once peaceful island country of western Gelnor. Led by the mighty sorcerer Nikademus, monsters and the dreaded Black Knights plunder at will. But newly arrived on Gelnor, you are amazed to find a quest worthy of your mettle. Now all that remains is to gather a party of equally valiant souls and rid the land of its plague.
+
+     Borrowing from such favorites as "Questron" and "Wizardry", SSI's "Phantasie" offers advanced character development, sixteen 20x26 half-screen terrain maps, and ten 16x16 dungeons. Each party may include six members drawn from a roster of nearly forty player-created characters. Several parties may be active at the same time, spread through different regions of the island.
+
+     Whereas in games like "Ultima" practically all the action occurs on the map; "Phantasie" uses its maps purely as locators. Most action, such as purchases, training, reading scrolls, etc. is via text screens. A simple, minimum animation heros vs. monsters picture symbolizes combat.
+
+    "Phantasie" is a major, well documented adventure featuring one of the more complex scenarios (even the gods get into the action). Multi-party capability facilitates involving several players in the quest; and exceptionally flexible character management makes it easy to identify with your heros. As tough as it is addictive, your "Phantasie" awaits you.
+
+
+Available from SSI: 883 Stierlin Road, Building A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043-1983. (415) 964-1200. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    07    07    08    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/pitfall2.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+PITFALL II (Arcade)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick, Mockingboard optional
+
+
+     Lost somewhere in the Great Caverns are Harry's niece Rhonda, his cat Quickclaw, and the incerdibly valuable Raj diamond. Not one to let your comrades down, you (as Harry) immediately set off to the rescue.
+
+     The caverns is a very big place filled with snakes, bats, scorpions, and other dangerous creatures, along with bars of gold. Less frquent are the white crosses marking "Incan Healing Centers". Should Harry be zapped by some hazard, he is magically transported back to the last white cross touched. Though getting lost appears to be the main danger, Harry will occassionally need to leap a gap, swim a river, or catch a balloon to continue the quest.
+
+     While too many arcades emphasize competition at the expense of playability; "Pitfall II" comes near to the other extreme. Nobody dies in the caverns, there is no time limit, and the Mockingboard generated background music is actually relaxing. Every achievement (rescues, gold, etc.) and setback (getting zapped) adds or subtracts points from your score; but high scores are not saved.
+
+    "Pitfall II's" graphics are a tad bland; but control is good and it is fun to explore the caverns. A masterpiece of low pressure arcading, this is one game you can play 'til the cows come home.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    06    09    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/pwteacheschess.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+Paul Whitehead Teaches Chess including Coffeehouse Chess Monster (Chess Tutorial/Player)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; printer optional
+
+
+     Before computers, would-be wood pushers used to learn how to play chess via instruction at the hands of a chess player and/or by studying 'how to' books. Hence the proliferation of such titles as "Learn Chess Fast", "They Laughed When I Sat Down to Play", etc. The advantages of the guru-plus-books approach are obvious, since learning the game involves both learning how the pieces move and a chance to maneuver them against an active opponent. Fortunately for those long on desire but short on gurus, Paul Whitehead and his pal, the Coffeehouse Chess Monster, are ready to lead you into the wonderful world of forks, pins, and open files.
+
+     Paul Whitehead Teaches Chess (PWTC) is a collection of discussions accompanied by examples and pictorial illustrations. Where an example involves a move sequence, you are able to step through the moves, obtaining additional commentary where warranted. A key feature of the experience is the ready accessibility of a chess playing program (actually a pretty good one) named the "Chess Monster". Here you may experiment the tutorial position from either side and then return to the tutorial.
+
+     Each tutorial unit is an instructional jewel; but much of this effort would be for nought were it not for careful organization. PWTC makes sure the units and sub-units are arranged so that, as you move through the program, everything makes sense. 
+
+     Beginning with "Main Topics" ("Rules", "Tactics for Each Piece", "Opening Principals", and "The Endgame") all you need do is select topics and sub-topics according to your own interests. You may or may not choose to immerse yourself in, for example, knight tactics. If you do, you won't suddenly encounter a discussion on "bishop pins"; nor are you likely to miss something important concerning knight tactics. To help you plan your quest PWTC includes a large, detailed map of  the package's topics 'tree'.
+
+     Evidently, the program is virtually 'fool proof', at least as regards getting lost. At one point, after several switches to and from the "Monster", I took a wrong turn and wound up 'elsewhere'. Since all branches eventually return to the "Main Topics" menu, I was soon unlost and ready to go on. (Actually, it's fun to wander around the program just to see what's there.)  
+
+     Hardcopy documentation, except for the map, is a weakness; but otherwise, the package is first rate. Offering a very flexible, interesting learning environment, Paul Whitehead and the "Coffee House Chess Monster" have teamed up to produce an in-depth, action-packed route to chess mastery.
+
+
+Available from Enlightenment: 1240 Sanchez, San Francisco, CA 94114. (415) 641-9131. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 07    06    07    05    07    06/08

apple/REVIEWS/railroadworks.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+THE RAILROAD WORKS (Simulation for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick input
+
+
+     Just when model railroaders began to believe layouts couldn't get any smaller, along comes CBS's "The Railroad Works". Now you can construct an elaborate two-train system on your Apple, operate it like any model railroad, or play a game!
+
+     Actually, the program allows building (and saving) any number of layouts complete with tracks, scenery, shipping and receiving sites, and passenger depots. Rolling stock, which may be from the steam era or contemporary, includes two engines, boxcars, tenders, passenger cars, and cabooses. Simple paste/erase construction and twelve hires screens (4x3) of real estate make it a snap to realize even the most ambitious designs.
+
+     Whether the layout is your own or one of several included on-disk, everything works like the real thing. The "Game" option is simply an extension of normal operation which awards a rank ("coal chipper" through "engineer") based upon cargo handling efficiency.
+
+     With two trains running at full throttle on a complex layout, the simulation can be quite demanding; but the real challenge is to your creativity. Endlessly entertaining, you won't find a better value than "The Railroad Works".
+
+
+Available from CBS Software: One Fawcett Pl., Greenwich, CT 06836. (203) 622-2525. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    08    06    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/reallife.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Real Life (Text Adventure/Simulation)
+Compatibility: 128K Apple IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     In case you have wondered where your present computer gaming, thrill seeking existence is leading, Relational Systems is ready with "Real Life". This adventure/simulation, so the publisher claims, will help you determine where you're going and, perhaps, how to avoid getting there. Set in the streets and buildings of a modern city, "Real Life" comes with a few hint sheets, and a map with plastic overlay marked-off in ninty-plus squares. Since directions are on-diskette, there is no game manual.
+
+     After entering a name, gender, and age, you find yourself in a parking lot behind an office building with a few bucks in your pockets, dirty, and dressed in rags. Not a very promising beginning for your quest of self discovery; but then the idea is to force some sort of action. You may, for instance, enter the building and look for a washroom; find your home on the map and go there; or forget about your appearance and just explore. For each location there is a description of surroundings and a multiple-choice type listing of your options (which do include a game save).
+
+     As you move around there are opportunities to interact with twelve or so key characters. Some, like beggars and pushers are after your money and may get you into trouble; others, such as a prospective employer, may offer helpful advice and even a job. Of course, there is no requirement that you keep to the straight and narrow. You set your own goals; if the outcome is satisfactory, you win.
+
+     Predictably, in a text adventure which lists all player options on the screen, there is little real opportunity to explore any given situation. In fact, most of your "Real Life" decisions turn out to be strategic-- mainly a matter of going somewhere so that something can happen to you. (So when forced to buy something which subsequently fails to appear in your inventory, don't worry; it wasn't important anyway!)  The game could provide some useful insights into values, especially in a classroom setting with an instructor to guide discussion of experiences. As liesure time entertainment, however, "Real Life" is unlikely to satisfy experienced adventurers.
+
+
+Available from Relational Systems, P.O. Box 83070, Troy, MI 02140. (313) 645-5090. FREE (first 100 orders per month); otherwise $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ NA    05    07    07    05    04/06

apple/REVIEWS/rescuefractalus.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+
+RESCUE ON FRACTALUS (Arcade)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB and joystick input
+
+     Things have been pretty hairy in this sector. Too many good space pilots, even a few aces, have had to ditch on an enemy infested rock called "Fractalus". Now it's up to you, one of the few air flyers still attached to Ether Corps: fight your way through to the downed ships and bring back those spacers!
+
+     It's not nice on Fractalus. Suicide saucers are a constant menace, laser batteries dot every ridge, and the terrain is one mountain after another. Force shields and anti-matter torpedos help the odds; but the higher your quota of rescues, the less space remains for anything else, including fuel. (Fortunately, rescued pilots bring along fuel cannisters from their ships.) As always, the tougher the mission, the higher the payoff, including boosts in rank and chance to place among the "Top Ten".
+
+     Moderately paced yet very challenging at the higher levels, "Rescue on Fractalus" trades speed and smoothness for an apparently endless (fractal generated) landscape and decent perspective effects. If you're ready for 'flight sim with guns', put this one on your list.
+
+
+Available from EPYX: 1043 Kiel Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 745-0700. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    07    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/ringquest.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+Ring Quest (Pictire-Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 64k Apple II+, //e
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+     The Ring of Chaos has enslaved the noble sorceress, Lisa, and all space-time is threatened by its destructive influence. As bearer of the Ring of Order, your mission is to free Lisa before reality is disrupted beyond retrieval.
+
+     Nominal sequel of The Quest, Ring Quest returns you to the magical land of Balema, accompanied once more by Gorn, your water-swilling strong-arm. Far to the north is your ultimate goal, the sorceress's mountain  citadel. As though its shield of green lightning were not adequate, you soon encounter other obstacles, including trolls, manticoras, amorous ogresses, and greedy seers.
+
+     Good mapping is amply rewarded in this adventure, where Lisa is liable to pop in at any moment to cast a teleport spell, bewitch Gorn into confusion (hard to detect), or dry up your water supply.
+
+     Offering decent graphics, two (optional) arcade sequences, and one of the more creative scene-setter booklets, "Ring Quest" is a moderately challenging, fun to play collection of puzzles. Though experienced adventurers will cut through this one like a piece of cheese, the game is well suited to beginners.
+
+
+Available from Penguin: P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. (312) 232-1984. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    08    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/ringsofzilfin.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+Rings of Zilfin (Animated Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II, II+, IIe, IIgs, III
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive, SpeeDemon optional
+
+
+    "I, a fiend of darkness, will bring back the greed and hate and pain that makes a proper world. To achieve this exalted task I declare myself overlord of all I survey. ALL IS NOBLE DARKNESS!" 
+
+     Well, it's nice to know where you stand; and, in conquered Batiniq, if one is not a minion of the evil Lord Dragos, ones prospects are all too grim. In SSI's Rings of Zilfin you are a simple youth marked by newly discovered magical abilities as the only one who might, some day, challenge the most powerful of necromancers.
+
+     Created long ago by well-meaning Zilfin wizard's, the twin Rings, when worn together, confirm supernatural power-- just the thing for doing in an evil arch mage. One ring is lost somewhere in Batiniq; which may be just as well, since the other is held by Dragos, who would like very much to have them both! While, sooner or later, you will have to secure the pair (hopefully for yourself), this proves a distant concern in what turns out to be a somewhat involved, very long-playing adventure.
+
+     The game's distinguishing feature-- that which most obviously sets it apart from other fantasies-- is the extent to which animation is employed, not just to add isolated touches of arcade pizzazz, but as a kind of glue which holds everything together. 
+
+     When traveling between towns (castles, etc.), you are shown as a walking figure against a scrolling backdrop. Along the way you can stop and pick valuable plants or, perhaps, garner information from passing monks. At night the sky darkens and you can make camp, though often you will have to unlimber your trusty bow to fight off attacks from the air. 
+
+     Swordplay or magic is the only way across demon-patrolled bridges or through clearings and other places guarded by other deadly adversaries. Castles, caves, towns, etc., all richly illustrated, offer even more varied encounters. Here you engage in trade to fatten your purse, buy weapons and supplies, sell gems won from monsters, dig for information, and obtain key items. Occassionally, you may have to dispatch fanatic followers of the dark path; but you will also meet personages vital to your quest and have an opportunity to increase magic or sword skills.
+
+     Boasting attractive artwork, efficient save/restore, and good use of sound, Rings of Zilfin is a unique melding of arcade, picture-text, and map adventure forms, which plays much like a very lively, colorful, and involved version of each. Most entries are single-key commands; character development is important, and you need to keep an eye on such items as hit points and food supply. 
+
+     Good mapping is essential as are notes covering everything from obscure clues through prices of trade goods-- few games, in fact, are so demanding yet so much fun to play. Accompanied by clear, well-organized documentation, Rings of Zilfin is a genuine breakthrough in game design, definitely among the year's top entertainment values.
+
+
+Available from Strategic Simulations: 1046 N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043-1716. (415) 964-1353. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    07    07    08    09

apple/REVIEWS/roadrallyusa.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Road Rally U.S.A. (Educational Simulation)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     According to the popular wisdom, if you want to 'discover America', then the way to do it is to hop in your car and go. Evidently, some people at Looking Glass Software agree, even going the extra mile to add a touch of competition pizazz. In Road Rally U.S.A. you race the clock as maps and clues guide your travels.
+
+     Your objective in this geography learning game is to visit all designated sites before the twelve-minute timer on your dashboard reads "00:00". After you select one of seven major regions (Northwest, South Central, etc.) and difficulty level, a closeup "section map" appears showing your auto, highways, filling stations, city markers, and such location clues as barns, oilwells, and factories. At the lowest difficulty level you will be directed to your first target city by name; otherwise, you get a clue (e.g. "Look for the cowboys here" = Dallas).
+
+     From here on the key to success is to locate yourself on the appropriate region map card (only the cards show route numbers and place names) and to make use of the information supplied on the back of the card. Once you have figured out where to go and the best route to take, you drive to the target where you will be given the next destination. 
+
+     An occassional car crunching hazard (falling rocks, etc.) and running out of gas can put you out of the running (you start with three autos); so you need to keep an eye on your gas gauge and pay attention when your radio flashes a hazard warning. When you reach your last designated target the game is over and a score is awarded based mainly upon time remaining, accuracy of site identification, and cars left. (High scores are not saved.)
+
+      Road Rally is a thoroughly enjoyable way to get a feel for U.S. geography and learning some useful facts besides. Displayed and on-card maps are accurate and highways approximate actual routes. Well done sound effects and attractive, smooth graphics round out a fine educational experience.
+
+
+Available from Bantam Software: 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10103. (212) 765 6500. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 08    08    08    05    06    07/07

apple/REVIEWS/rockyhorror.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+
+The Rocky Horror Show (Mini-Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     No, you can't use the phone; and don't bother trying to leave either. Your host, the infamous Dr. Frank N. Furter, just will not hear of it-- not on such a stormy night-- and to drive the point home he freezes your fiance with his Medusa Machine! In Activision's "The Rocky Horror Show" you are Brad or Janet, locked in a madhouse with Frank and his gang of Transylvanian flakes. The only way to free your loved one and escape is to construct a de-Medusa machine from parts scattered about the castle. Don't look for any help and forget about things looking better in the morning. The countdown has already started; and sometime tonight the whole place is scheduled to blast-off for Transylvania!
+
+     Showcasing smooth four-quadrant movement against colorful castle room backgrounds, this first edition of the new "Electric Dreams" series is a true, no-game-save, adventure quickie. You have only about twenty frantic minutes to locate the fifteen machine pieces and bring them, one at a time, to the theatre room where your fiance is cooling her (or his) heels.
+
+     To make sure all this is a suitable test of your affections, most of the doors are locked, pieces are rearranged upon replays, and there are a few hazards. Besides high-voltage traps, you will need to watch out for a laser-armed manic-depressive (the butler) and reckless motorcycling Eddie, one of Frank's failed experiments who thaws to awareness when the freezer temperature goes above zero.
+
+     Happily, most of the castle's residents are satisfied with wisecracks, though some will snatch your clothes if you let them get too close. (Bad news! since you can't do anything until once again decently attired.)
+
+     Chiefly a challenge to organizational ability and coolness under fire, "Rocky Horror" is a deceptively tough little nut to crack. Required stick expertise is minimal, keys to locked rooms are all over the place; and, once you get into a room, any pieces there are in plain view. It looks so simple that it's easy to get sucked into replays without even being aware that the game has 'got you'. Whether a newcomer to "The Rocky Horror Show" or a devotee of the original stage play, this is one Electric Dream sure to haunt several fun filled hours.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7286, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    07    07    07    07
+

apple/REVIEWS/shadowkeep.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+Shadowkeep (Maze Adventure)
+Compatible: 64k Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drive; SpeedDemon recommended
+
+     Since its seizure by a mighty demon, the Shadowkeep has been the focus of evil-- a power which now threatens to engulf the earth. As the last, best hope of civilization, you with your eight comrades must invade the grim tower, overcome its guardians, and dispatch the dark lord.
+
+     Featuring animated color graphics with good perspective effects, "Shadowkeep" is a long-play adventure in the mold of "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Wizardry". Many commands such as "get gold" or "Rubywand, invoke the Rod of Power" are in simple English; with purchases, combat, etc. handled via prompt windows. As in "D&D", your quest leads through successively greater perils, necessitating an on-going concern for character growth and the acquisition of magical artifacts.
+
+     Each of the keep's nine 16x16 mazes offers its own special rewards including weapons, spell scrolls, and passwords to other mazes. Adversaries run the gamut from "death sheep", trolls, and gargoyles through ghosts and ogres. Like the members of your party, monsters vary widely in such attributes as strength, dexterity, and the ability to use magic.
+
+     Though slow and not altogether free of minor bugs, "Shadowkeep" ranks high among my favorites. Handsome displays, unusual scope for character development, and diversity of challenges make this one good for many hours of maze busting, monster bashing entertainment.
+
+
+Available from Telarium: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139. (617)-494-1200. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    08    06    08    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/shardofspring.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+
+Shard of Spring (Map-Maze Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     For centuries the enchanted shard, a piece of the long lost Life Stone, maintained a climate of eternal spring on the island of Ymros. Indeed, it continues to do so; but, now at a heavy cost. The evil sorceress Siriadne has seized the magical sliver; and, with the threat of the Shard's destruction, she extorts ruinous tribute from the people of Ymros.
+
+     Years of poverty and roving gangs of the sorceress's monster minions have gradually crushed all thought of resistance. Well, almost all. Even now a few brave young warriors and journeyman wizards have gathered, determined to recover the shard and put an end to Siriadne's tyranny!
+
+     SSI's Shard of Spring is an Ultima/Question-type adventure highlighting tactical combat, dungeon exploration, and character development. An active party may have up to five members, each of whom is either a warrior or a wizard. The primary measure of character growth is "level". 
+
+     Boosts in level increase base hit or base spell points, besides allowing acquisition of new skills. For warriors, the latter includes weapons use skills, armored skin, and karate, among others. Wizards, on the other hand, may obtain access to whole new spell groups and areas of knowledge with skills such as "Fire Runes", "Wind Runes", "Potion Lore", and "Monster Lore". As in "Bard's Tale", a character's level depends upon experience points; but advancement is granted only at warrior or wizard guilds located in just a few towns.
+
+     Traveling cross-country or moving in a dungeon, your party is represented by a warrior figure inside a 9x9 scrolling map insert. Whereas towns provide the expected supply, healing, rumor mill, and R&R services; dungeons supply certain key items and information not otherwise obtainable. 
+
+     Only in a dungeon or the countryside can you encounter monsters, your source of gold and experience points. Encounters lead to combat, whereupon the display shifts to a closeup showing individual party members and monsters. Whether snake, orc, skeleton, evil mage, etc., each monster has attributes which determine its mobility, toughness, and offensive capabilities; and each is rated according to level. Since combat is about as flexible and easy to manage as one might hope and there's no time pressure, effective maneuvering takes surprisingly little practice. (And, if things look really bad, you can always run for an exit.)
+
+     Offering the best tactical combat of any major adventure, Shard of Spring also delivers a very fine magic system repleat with spells for attack, defense, healing, and transportation. Production values are a bit weak, as evidenced in the sub-state-of-the-art hires text and such glitches as mislabeling the total gold won in a combat as each player's share.
+
+     While the manual is well organized and has an attractive cover, it is grossly incomplete. There is no specific information relating to monsters and nothing is said about being able to walk through some dungeon walls. Still, such miscues are merely bothersome alongside a major problem with pacing. Basically, a player runs out of new things to do, new places to go, etc. long before achieving the experience points required to wrap things up and win. 
+
+     So, after many enjoyable hours of play, either you spend many additional hours wearing ruts in the maps looking for fights, or you declare yourself "winner" and quit. Hopefully, SSI will seriously consider making the necessary revisions. For now, if too much combat is never enough for you, this is your game
+
+
+Available from Strategic Simulations: 1046 N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043-1716. (415) 964-1353. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    07    07    08    06

apple/REVIEWS/spaceshuttle.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+SPACE SHUTTLE (Flight Simulation)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB input, joystick optional
+
+
+     Designed around NASA simulators, "Space Shuttle" aims to put you at the helm of the world's most advanced spacecraft. Your mission: achieve orbit, chase down and dock with a satellite, and return safely to earth.
+
+     Boasting smooth graphics, decent sound effects, and one of the best, most active status/control consoles ever, this simulation quickly envelopes you in the reality of a shuttle mission. You command a big, powerful, complex machine capable plucking satellites like daisies or grinding you to pulp. Not for seat-of-the-pants stick jockies, pre-launch study of the comprehensive flight manual is a must. 
+
+    "Space Shuttle" has to rank among the most absorbing of Apple simulations. Once the pad restraining bolts blow, speed, fuel, three-axis positioning, target distance, and elapsed time all demand constant monitoring and a deft feel for the controls. From bone rattling blastoff to blazing reentry it's sure-fire fun for sim addicts and would be space pilots alike.
+
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    07    07    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/spellbreaker.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+
+Spellbreaker (Text Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive optional
+
+
+     Having crunched the evil warlock Krill to win your wizard spurs, and junked Jeearr, the evil demon, to achieve leadership of the Circle of Enchanters, you are as ready as you'll ever be for the "final conflict between good and evil"! (promises, promises...) Once again a crisis has befallen the kingdom, as spells flop, rat ants run wild, and everywhere there is chaos and confusion. 
+
+     But it is at an emergency conclave of the Guild of Enchanters that the final blow of your mysterious adversary's opening moves is delivered. For scarcely have the masters concluded their litany of woes when the hall is suddenly filled with a host of jibbering newts, toads, and salamanders. Normally, such opportunistic showing off would incure an appropriate reprimand from the guildmasters. Unfortunately, except for yourself, these bleeping tararium dropouts ARE the guildmasters!
+
+     As volume three of the Enchanter Saga, Spellbreaker continues a series tradition; that is, the game bears remarkably little resemblance to its predecessors. To be sure, some of the persona, such as your venerable mentor Belboz, are familiar; as are placename references (Flathead Mountains, etc.). You still begin with a few stock spells such as "Frotz" to make something give off light, and "Gnusto" to transfer spells from scrolls to your spell book. Too, spell scrolls remain among the more valuable items you can find.
+
+     The differences, however, are striking. First, the game landscape is mostly broken up into many, very different, three to five-room pockets. The guildhall area, a grue cave, and a volcano are examples. Transport among these pockets is effected via application of the "Blorple" spell on featureless white cubes. So blorpling one cube might take you to the "Air Room"; whereas blorpling another would zip you to the grue cave. There are many of these cubes to collect and (hint) a clever box that can help you tell one from another.
+
+     Pitting you against the most elusive of adversaries, Spellbreaker is certainly deserving of Infocom's "advanced level" rating. Vengeful idols, giant rocs, and sneezing ogres are just a few of the colorful characters you will encounter, each involved in one or another puzzle within puzzles. 
+
+     Parsing is necessarily very good; and, with fast, multi-position save/restore, testing solutions is a snap. Typicall, the game is well supported with such goodies as an enchanter's guild pin, famous wizard trading cards, and a Magic Equipment Catalog chocked with great gift-giving ideas (e.g. "What can we say about the wonders of lizards that hasn't been said already? ..." so true). Logical, long-playing, and with a nice touch of humor, Spellbreaker is a worthy continuation of the best text adventure series ever published.
+
+
+Available from Infocom: 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140. (617) 492-1031. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    08    08    08    09    09

apple/REVIEWS/superblddash.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+Super BoulderDash (Arcade)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick
+
+
+     Once again as the spelunking Rockford you enter the marvelous sub-surface world of precariously balanced boulders, sparklink diamonds, and explosive fireflies. Your primary objective in each of Boulderdash II's sixteen new caves is to reach the exit without being crushed, blown-up, or trapped, until finally you reach the surface.
+
+     If you are unacquainted with magic butterflies and other denizens of the depths, then you will want to start with the original game. The Electric Arts Super Boulderdash package offers both versions.
+
+     To get through a cave you tunnel through the earth, racing against time to collect diamonds which vanish when touched adding to your score. (Each 500 points gets you an extra life.)  When you have the required number of diamonds, the screen flashes once to indicate the exit has opened. Leaving a cave groms points for any time remaining, resets the timer, and viola!, you're in the next cave.
+
+     Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, there are good reasons why every quick-sticking kid on the block isn't a "Boulderdash" master. First, the earth is full of boulders strung out and stacked in various, often hair trigger, patterns. Single boulders can be pushed along a tunnel; and some clever undermining can drop whole columns; but a falling boulder or diamond squashes Rockford like a toad. 
+
+     Even more troublesome are the pyrotechnic insects which seem especially attracted to tunnels. Touch any of these and you can scratch one life. They are, however, liable to ignition via dropped boulders and very handy for blowing holes in otherwise impassable walls.
+
+     Each cave offers one or more puzzles of varying complexity. Starting off these are simple and limited in scope (e.g. how to get through a wall to collect some needed diamonds). Later caves produce more involved challenges, such as what to do about a tunnel filling amoeba. 
+
+     The principal attraction of Boulderdash II is its somewhat more complex, more entertaining brain teasers. Finally, you do not have forever to figure out what's going on. Running out of time, like getting mashed, forces a fresh start in a cave.
+
+    Though the continued failure to maintain an on-disk high scores record is disappointing, Boulderdash remains an excellent entertainment value with wide appeal. Time pressure is not severe so success depends as much upon a feeling for the game's physics and puzzle busting as upon arcade skills. The game is fun, however, largely because the mechanics are fun. Featuring responsive controls, good sound, and superb graphics, Boulderdash II elevates an arcade favorite to the status of a computer gaming classic.
+
+
+Available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    07    08    07    08

apple/REVIEWS/swordofkadash.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+Sword of Kadash (Maze Adventure)
+Compatible: 48k Apple II+, //e
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick optional
+
+     Just as you are beginning to wonder if there are worse things than being ripped off and abandoned in the Persian desert, up rides a party of brigands whose leader makes an offer that's hard to refuse: Enter the Fortress of the Dragon and retrieve the fabled Sword of Kadash, or, wash the blistering sands with your blood.
+
+     Having volunteered, you soon discover why no one has ever returned from the dread fortress. Besides monsters, elaborate traps, curses, and backlash from your own weapon, you must contend with the maze itself. Armor, weapons, monster repulsion spells, and other goodies do litter the labyrinth; but the price you pay is usually a hefty chunk of precious hit points.
+
+     Unfortunately, the major barrier to success has little to do with the scenario or player skill. Learning about traps costs lives (experience and possessions are reset to zilch in each case). Lose your last life and your record is wiped out; you must reboot the master, make another playable copy, and start from scratch.
+
+     Responsive controls, attractive displays, and smooth animation go far towards making "Sword of Kadash" fun to play; and several of the chambers do pose interesting problems. Poor mechanics, however, make a potentially great game close to unplayable.
+
+
+Available from Penguin: P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. (312) 232-1984. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    05    04    09    08    05

apple/REVIEWS/tasstimesintt.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+Tass Times in Tonetown (Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; joystick, mouse optional
+
+
+     Like many amateur experimenters, Gramps has long been fascinated by such exotic phenomena as eloptic rays, time warps, and alternate dimensions. So, when you arrive for a visit only to find his lab humming and Gramps gone, only one conclusion is possible: somehow Gramps made his transdimensional hoop work! Concerned that he may be in trouble, you snatch up his pet dog Spot, head for the hoop, and leap to the rescue.
+
+     Tass Times' transports you to a wierd, musically-oriented community called "Tonetown". Here guitar picks are the medium of exchange and you are well advised to spend a few getting "tone" at local apparel vendors. Otherwise, you won't look "tass" (i.e. cool, hip, etc.) and may wind up just another vanished tourist. In such an odd setting you are too relieved to be mystified upon finding that Gramp's pet has emerged as Ennio, dogwonder, star reporter of the town's only newspaper, and an invaluable guide.
+
+     The plot thickens with the discovery that Gramps has been here, that he has vanished from Tonetown, and that he was last seen arguing with Mr. Franklin Snarl, a mean-tempered wheeler-dealer land developer, who happens to be a man-size snake with fangs! Just what IS going on at Snarl's estate? What is the wetlands mystery? How do the cute little "blobpets" figure in? And, as long as you're turning up more questions than answers, why not apply for a reporter's job with the "Tonetown Times"?!
+
+     Tass Times' offers nicely done, animated artwork, good sound, and an interesting input option. Entries may be in text or you can move an on-screen cursor to point out items you wish to take or examine. Parsing is adequate, since no complicated manipulation of items is required; and an efficient multi-position save/restore option is a great aid when it comes to trying something risky. A solid, well-planned mystery with lots of curious places to explore, Tass Times in Tonetown is guaranteed to 'tone up' your leisure hours.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7286, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    07    08    06    07    07
+
+ 

apple/REVIEWS/theeidolon.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+The Eidolon (Maze Arcade-Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive, joystick optional
+
+
+     There's no telling how many daring explorers have wandered through Argon House in the roughly ninty years it's been deserted. Certainly, finding the hiden basement had been a piece of dumb luck. Or, maybe it was fate. 
+
+     Perhaps YOU were meant to unravel the enigma of the beautifully crafted device (a time machine?) resting in the center of what appears to be a laboratory. A yellowed journal (the records of old Josef Argon himself!) only confirms these speculations. This machine, you read, is named "The Eidolon"; but where it goes not even its eccentric creator was prepared to guess!
+
+    "Eidolon" equates with "phantom", "ignormus", "figment", etc.-- that which is but really isn't or, at least, shouldn't be. All aptly characterize the strange grey labyrinth to which "The Eidolon" transports its passenger. Here your craft moves about freely, though some care must be exercised to avoid power-draining contact with the place's odd inhabitants. 
+
+     Fortunately, the controls are easily mastered and responsive. Better yet, the maze's physics supply energy and some valuable new capabilities via variously colored "fireballs" and jewels which "The Eidolon" can capture as well as launch.
+
+     Red, the journal informs you, repels most creatures, sometimes transforming one into a jewel; yellow recharges your power reserves; green changes one creature into some other; and blue seems to backup time a few ticks. As for the jewels, they are clearly the keys to mastering the dragon guardians of the portals between levels. (Argon theorized there are seven such portals, though the journal ends with only expressions of optimism that a breakthrough was near.)  Impressive; but you soon come to realize that this catalogue is but the beginnings of an involved set of bizaar relationships.
+
+     As in "Hacker", Epyx's The Eidolon leaves much about how things operate to be discovered by the player-- a nice ploy when it works; and in this game it works very well. At the start you know which instruments indicate proximity to a portal, heading, active fireballs and jewels, elapsed time, and power level. You are also aware that if power reaches zero or time runs out, poof!, you wind up back in the lab. 
+
+     The journal neglects to mention that if your return is timer-prompted you must reenter at the beginning level; whereas a no-power return allows reentry at the level vacated. (Valuable information, since there is no 'game save' option.)
+
+     Every once in a while you come across a game so refreshingly different, yet so wierdly alien that doubts may arise as to its terrestrial origins. "The Bilestoad" and "Ankh" are examples; an elite group now joined by The Eidolon. Despite temporal constraints, pacing is liesurely; so there is plenty of time to explore a very interesting, increasingly convoluted environment. Fascinating in concept, The Eidolon will transport you to many hours of mind-blowing fun.
+
+
+Available from EPYX: 1043 Kiel Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 745-0700. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 08    07    07    07    09    08

apple/REVIEWS/theotherside.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+The Other Side (Conflict Resolution Simulation)
+Compatible: 48k Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drive; modems and second computer optional
+
+
+     The Other Side challenges opposing players (or teams) to achieve peace through cooperation, symbolized via a "bridge" to which each side contributes pieces. Completing the bridge ends the game and both teams win. (One version awards "victory" to the side which places the last piece.)
+
+     Since "both sides want peace", success might appear to be a foregone conclusion; not so! Whether you play the game using modems or a single computer, niether side ever sees the other's moves. Contact is limited to "Hotline" messages entered during a "communications" phase of each turn.
+
+     More important, you are not the sole arbiters of national policy. Each side possesses a Computer Assisted Defense (CAD) system which cares only about the 'bottom line' and security. Should CAD decide you have let your side down or detect any hostile moves by the other side, it will attempt to sieze control; and its agressive moves will almost certainly provoke a similar response by the other side's CAD. Regaining control and avoiding a ruinous conflict can demand exceptional restraint as well as management skill from both teams.
+
+     Complete with duplicate diskettes, manuals, plastic coated maps and modem software, "The Other Side" is an engrossing, realistic model of super power confrontation. If your gaming group has been looking for something "really different", you just found it.
+
+
+Available from Tom Snyder Productions: 123 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. (617) 876-4433. $69.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+----------------------------------
+ 08    10    07    08    08    08 /09

apple/REVIEWS/tracersanction.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Tracer Sanction (Picture-Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 48k Apple II+, //e
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+     Known only as "The Wing", the galaxy's most infamous criminal genius has eluded planetary lawmen fro years. Finally, the Stellar Intelligence Agency has taken a hand in the matter assigning you, its top field operative, to shut down the Wing once and for all.
+
+     Tracer Sanction launches you on a chase spanning eight worlds ranging from backwater fuel depots through castle-crowned estates and a burdgeoning metropolis. While the search for clues, locating contacts, and acquisition of useful tools constitute the meat of the mission; an ongoing concern is your short budget. 'The company' supplies a one-man hyperdrive spacer and just enough sols to get started. Finding the money to keep the ship fueled is your problem. Puzzles and perils abound; but your trusty jetpack and a poetically inclined android help even the odds.
+
+     Somewhat in the style of "Sherwood Forest" or "Gruds in Space", "Tracer Sanction" is cute if not especially demanding. Attractive graphics and several clever gimmicks add up to hours of quality entertainment.
+
+
+Available from Activision: P.O. Box 7287, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 960-0410. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    06    08    06    07    07

apple/REVIEWS/ultima4.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+ULTIMA IV: QUEST OF THE AVATAR (Map-Maze Adventure)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, second drive and Mockingboard optional
+
+
+     Having blasted Mondain, dispatched the evil enchantress, and sabotaged Exodus, you are ready for the most awesome of undertakings. In Ultima IV your goal is to demonstrate mastery of eight virtues ranging from "compassion" through "spirituality" and so become an archetype of goodness, an avatar.
+
+     Your quest spans town, abbey, and shrine-dotted lands spread across a 256x256 map. Monsters abound, with conflicts on the surface and in dungeons resolved via a slightly elaborated version of Ultima III's mini-arcade type combat. A notable improvement is an option to break off a fight and flee (though at the cost of some "valor" points).
+
+     You do not, however, merely hack your way to holiness. Runes, mantras (for meditation), and shrines must be located and correctly utilized. This entails exhaustive questioning of inhabitants who turn out to be surprisingly verbose. Sailing ships and moon gates remain the staple modes of long distance travel; but sometimes you will need to hop a balloon (especially if you plan to do mapping).
+
+     Two significant departures from earlier Ultima's involve the magic system-- spells must be mixed according to a specific recipe-- and character creation. Based upon the results of a kind of placement test, you are assigned a profession and attributes for one character. The other seven members of your party must be discovered and recruited individually. Like yourself, each comes with preassigned attributes.
+
+     Supported in the usual fine Ultima style, including a superb musical score for Mockingboard, "Quest of the Avatar" is a tour de force of game programming technique. Still, I prefer to design my own characters; and questing for niceness imposes many unwelcomed restraints (e.g. slaughtering guards and ripping off herb vendors are definite no-no's). If you are ready for a super-long play, multi-faceted challenge and don't mind becoming a saint, this one is for you.
+
+
+Available from Electronic Arts: 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. (415) 571-7171. $59.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    08    08    10    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/underfire.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+UNDER FIRE (War Tactics Simulation for 1 or 2 players)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements:One disk drive, KB or joystick, (joystick required with II+), Mockingboard optional
+
+
+     Somewhere a theatre commander has pushed your division's chit across a blue line on a map, thus securing a key bridge. But the bridge is five miles away, in German hands, and likely to stay that way unless your boys can knock out the enemy position on a ridge guarding the approach.
+
+    "Under Fire" moves computer wargaming down to the small units level, where you can see the men and tanks. Three maps and nine scenarios are supplied; but a choice of objectives and provisions for building and arming each squad on a man-by-man, weapon-by-weapon basis greatly expand the actual number of situations. Add user-defined victory conditions and a design-your-own map making package (included), and you can recreate virtually any land warfare tactical situation of WWII.
+
+     A typical game consists of several build/move/combat cycles. Three levels of map resolution ease planning; and your Apple takes care of combat results, sighting of enemy units, general bookkeeping, and firefight sound effects.
+
+    "Under Fire" is an extraordinarily flexible wargaming environment. Slow combat processing is a weakness and even "simple" variations demand close attention to detail. So be forewarned: "Under Fire" is for dedicated wargamers only.
+
+
+Available from Avalon Hill: 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214. (301) 254-5300. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    09    05    09    07    10

apple/REVIEWS/warorpeace.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+War or Peace? You Decide! (Crisis Management Simulation for one or two players or teams)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive optional
+
+
+     Suppose, as the American president, you receive information that the U.S.S.R. may be preparing a 'first strike'; or perhaps you are the President's opposite number in Russia, and it is the U.S.A. which may be preparing a little nuclear surprise. What do you do? Bright Ideas offers these and four other scenarios in its foreign policy studies/ crises management package: War or Peace? You Decide!
+
+      As might be expected in an educational package subtitled "Decision-Making in a Nuclear Age", if 'you decide' upon war there is a very good chance you blew it!  Your objective, basically, is to get your side (and, hopefully, the world) through a crisis in one piece.
+
+     War or Peace' proved a real surprise; not at all the set of boringly easy exercises I had feared. The manual, which includes a well-designed "Teacher" section, begins with a very readable, lucid, and informative discussion of current major power nuclear force and foreign policy issues. Though rather lengthy, it turns out to be just the right preparation for some very tough decision making.
+
+     Except for a few essentially decorative hires displays, the game employs a pure text format. Each crisis scenario is preceded by force status listings following which you may choose the role of U.S. President or Chairman of the U.S.S.R.. Situation bulletins, intelligence reports, etc. then begin to outline the problem. 
+
+     You receive advice from crisis team members (e.g. Secretaries of State and Defense, C.I.A. Director, Joint Chiefs) and select from among several options. As program documentation observes, you can't be certain that any one source is entirely accurate, the options may not be all you might wish, your orders will not always be carried out exactly as intended; and, of course, you don't have all day! (A countdown timer allows three or four minutes, after which the the computer makes the decision for you.)  
+
+     The effects of your choice will usually lead to another round of reports, perhaps a communication from the other side, advice, and some new options. Normally, that is, if you and your opposite number can avoid blowing-up each other first, a scenario will involve several such sequences before the crisis is resolved.
+
+     The only flaw, surprising in an educational package of this quality, is a bit of sloppiness in diskette handling prompts and more flipping and switching than seems justified on a two-drive system. Still, I found War or Peace?' a remarkably absorbing, entertaining venture; as did others who gave it a try. 
+
+     The scenarios are well-planned and realistic, with just enough built-in randomness so that one does well not to take the other side's response for granted in any replays. (Even so, invading Cuba without my direct order was a bit much.)  An excellent learning experience which just happens to be the perfect ice-breaker for your next get-together, War or Peace?' is one decision you won't regret.
+
+
+Available from Bright Ideas: 52 Exeter, Portland, MN 04102-2839. (800) 628 2828. $49.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+-------------------------------------
+ 04    08    07    07    08    07/08

apple/REVIEWS/warriorsrealm.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+Warrior's Realm (Maze Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+by Jeff Hurlburt
+
+
+     For any true-blue, monster-bashing hero, the ultimate reward is not wealth or power; it is fame, the grudging respect of peers, and a place in the songs of minstrels. In Gerhardt Software's "Warrior's Realm" your way to glory is up, through as many as ninety-nine levels of 10x10 randomly created mazes. Enter where you dare; but remember, the further down you start, the more monsters there are to bash, the more points to be gained, and the more brilliantly your achievement will shine in the Heroe's Hall!
+
+     Featuring mon-arcade combat very similar to that found in such favorites as "Phantasy" and "Bard's Tale", "Warrior's Realm" is a player-paced, swords and sorcery test of strategies and nerve. In this game you are, for the most part, only as good as the weapons, armor, and magical items you carry at the moment-- that is, except for base hit points, a character 'develops' by acquiring goodies. Better swords, axes, and armor are obtained in treasure chests, along with a plethora of nifty magical artifacts. The latter include scrolls which absorb the attacks of specific monsters, cast lightning bolts, and charm monsters to fight on your side! There are potions to heal or show the location of hidden stairways, and wands good for death blasts or immediate passage to the next level. The power in such devices is expended all to soon; so they must be continually replenished. Still, if you could keep a tenth of the items won, there would be no contest; but you can never carry more than seve. Thus much thought goes into making such decisions as whether to dump a scroll still good for taking 20 balrog or dragon hits in favor of one good for absorbing 50 troll or giant strikes. Or what about dumping a potion worth two healings to pick up a three-kill deathwand?, etc.. Everything depends on your current situation, which, of course, is always changing! Fortunately, you only face one adversary at a time; and, except for wandering monsters, you can usually break off combat if things really get hot.
+
+     Offering several new wrinkles in the venerable mazes and monsters theme, "Warrior's Realm" is a well thought-out, smooth-running product. The game's magic system is among the best you will find anywhere; and the Heroe's Hall display of winners' names and data is a strong plus. Graphics, sound, and speed are adequate; and save/restore functions work well. Supplied with a detailed manual, "Warrior's Realm" is persistantly addictive, fun, and as challenging as you dare to make it.
+
+
+Available from Gerhardt Software: 32600 Concord Drive, Dept. 401, Madison Heights, MI 48071. $29.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 05    07    08   04-08  08    07
+

apple/REVIEWS/wasteland.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+ Summary: The old Space Invaders craze meets typing lessons. Very early eighties game. 
+Gameplay: A good way to learn how to type--action plus learning! The controls are simply all the keys on the keyboard. You have to hit the right keys as quickly as possible. It even comes with a nice instruction manual which has some general tips. 
+
+Story: The earth is being attacked by aliens! Strangely enough, these aliens look a lot like the letters you might find on your keyboard. They are in eight rows of ten columns at the start of a wave and go in a left-down-right-down pattern like you see in Space Invaders. You have no shields and no actual ship. Your "guns" are small dots located on the bottom of the screen. To "fire" you press a key on the keyboard. If that is the lowest letter in any column, you see one of your "guns" shoot and you hear a "bink" noise and the leftmost lower letter(it really should be the lowest of the low letters, then the leftmost of that....but I digress) disappears. If not, you lose an energy point. You start with 100 and lose points for letting the invaders land(35), typing a wrong key(1) or letting a word slip by in the "word wave."(1 for each character in the word) What's the word wave? When you have completed 3 waves of space invaders(invaders start lower on the screen for each wave), words start running across the screen in the "word wave." You must type in the highlighted word before it gets all the way across. If you do, you gain energy(1 per letter in the word), and if you don't, you lose it. A bonus round is after that if you don't let words slip by. So, four or five rounds per level, and forty levels total. 
+
+Graphics and sound: If you lose all your points, a blue curtain comes down on you, and a death march plays. But if not, and you survive, letters appear on the screen and do a dance for you every four levels you complete. Y's rock their branches back and forth to a little ditty, A's kick their legs up one at a time, and T's tilt their tops. Sound is entertaining without being annoying. And no matter how much technology progresses, it'll never capture the outright coolness of the dancing letters by itself. 
+
+The levels get progressively harder, starting with ASDF for level 1, JKL; for level 2, and moving on to more complex patterns. Eventually you use multiple rows, even using numbers and, at the very last levels, shift keys! And you can even set the speed(higher speed means more points for you!) You can even create your own levels, although you can't get on the High Score List then. 
+
+Replayability: unfortunately, you could find a pattern of letters to "shoot down" and for the first two sub-scenes it is really quite easy, before the third screen mixes the letters up more or less randomly. The "word wave" always has the same words in the same order, which removes some potentially interesting challenges. But on the bright side, you can focus on typing faster by adjusting the speed, and you can always work at a certain level if you want to improve specific typing skills or get the hang of certain keys on the QWERTY keyboard. You can also pause the game while setting up a combination of letters to type, which ruins the spirit of the game, but people who cheat that deliberately probably don't deserve to have fun. Overall this game does a great job of combining education and gaming. 
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 7 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/werewolf.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+
+WEREWOLF!!? (Maze Adventure)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, //e, //c
+Requirements: One disk drive, Mockingboard optional
+
+
+     There are evil doings at the old castle. Dr. Orloff is determined to awaken a demon lord of the underworld; and someone has to tread the monster-patrolled labyrinthine dungeons, find the mad scientist and persuade him to stop before property values take a permanent nosedive. As the only stranger in town, your're elected.
+
+     Melding maze, text, and arcade elements, Werewolf!!? presents an '82 vintage monsters-and mazes look but plays more like a text adventure. Along with gorillas, acid pits, poison gas, and other hazards, you will find amulets, room keys, safe combinations, weapons, and other goodies as well as entertaining riddles and even clues from previous lives. Arcade-class quickness is very helpful, but much less important than good mapping, notes, and puzzle busting.
+
+     Admittedly, Werewolf!!? takes a good deal of 'getting into'. Hardly a graphics/sound showcase, the real fun begins once you discover patterns of maze  construction, locate "security offices", and otherwise 'learn the ropes'. Offering multiple winning strategies and puzzles within enigmas, the game is a fine challenge for experienced maze adventurers.
+
+
+Available from Gambit: P.O. Box 70858, Houston, TX 77270-0858. $36.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 06    06    07    08    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/willybyte.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+
+WILLY BYTE IN THE DIGITAL DIMENSION (Educational Arcade)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick input, Mockingboard optional
+
+
+     Like any true-blue computer nerd, you have probably wondered what REALLY goes on inside your Apple when the power is on and the bytes are humming. Thanks to Data Trek the mystery is solved as you, the indomitable Willy Byte, explore the wonders of the Digital Dimension.
+
+     Since computers are no-nonsense machines your journey quickly develops into a mission: take one or more bytes of data from the keyboard, through the RAM, and store them on disk. Simple enough, except for the dastardly Hex Luthor, embodiment of glitchness. Hex's static charges, overheating, and magnetism constantly menace your efforts, sometimes forcing you to drop everything and rush over to restart a ragged clock or, even worse, repair the power supply. Your reward for success is a rating (based mainly on bytes moved and time used) and a chance to place among the "Top Eight", saved on disk.
+
+     Supposedly an educational experience, "Willy Byte" is in fact a graphics/sound-effects spectacular surprisingly free of educational content. From slick packaging through the five smoothly executing arcades, the appeal here is strictly to the senses. Put away your thinking cap; and play this one for fun.
+
+
+Available from Data Trek: 621 Second Street, Encinitas, CA 92024. (619) 436-5055. $39.95

apple/REVIEWS/wintergames.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+WINTER GAMES (Sports Simulation for 1-8 players)
+Compatibility: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick
+
+
+     Once more you troop into a packed stadium under the flag of your choice; but this time it's winter, the domain of skiers, ice skaters, and the bobsled. Successor to "Summer Games", Epyx's winter competition offers competition in seven exciting events; and, as always, the challenge is to 'go for the gold'.
+
+     Showcasing smooth animation against colorful backgrounds, "Winter Games" displays approach TV screen realism. As in network broadcasts, you get second-camera inserts for closeup views in such events as ski jumping.
+
+     Reflecting an excellent events mix and improved movement control, there are at least seven options in figure skating, ice dancing, and stunt skiing where technique is critical. Speed skating is simpler, testing rhythm and endurance; the bobsled tests reflexes; and in the biathlon's rifle shoot, the premium is on accuracy. Even more than the contest for medals, this challenge to master a variety of skills involves you in the games 'for real'.
+
+     Among the best sports simulations, "Winter Games" is an entertainment bonanza playable as the Winter Olympics or on a single event basis. This is one you will surely want to introduce at your next gaming session (after a few days of practice, of course).
+
+
+Available from EPYX: 1043 Kiel Court, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 745-0700. $34.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 09    07    08    07    08    09

apple/REVIEWS/wishbringer.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+WISHBRINGER (Text Adventure)
+Compatible: 48K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive
+
+
+     It's not easy being a postal clerk in a small town like Festeron. When things are slow (like near quitting time) you are liable to wind up making special deliveries and not get home 'til after dark. So why did have to volunteer to find the old lady's pet cat Wishbringer?  Why did she give you a funny looking canister "to help" you on your 'mission'?  And why, in twentieth century Festeron, is there a big ugly troll blocking your way across this bridge?!!
+
+     Cozy, friendly Festeron has, you soon realize, undergone a decidedly peculiar transformation. In a setting drawn from My Little Golden Book of Nightmares, townspeople adopt sinister alter egos, poodles become hellhounds, harmless hillsides develop underground passages, and marching boots patrol the streets ready to snatch curfew breakers.
+
+     Still, despite the mechanations of a mysterious personage known only as "the Evil One", you remain undaunted. There are princesses to rescue, a far-out video game to try, and that darn cat has to be somewhere.
+
+     Wishbringer is a whimsical yet challenging bit of escapism offering puzzles with the unusual property of being soluable by mundane or magical means. Nicely crafted and well supported, this game belongs near the top of your "must get" list.
+
+
+Available from Infocom: 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140. (617) 492-1031. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ NA    08    08    07    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/wizards.crown.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+ Summary: In the 21st century in the desert of Nevada, your band of Desert Rangers must track down the disturbances that seem to be coming from robots in this futuristic RPG. 
+Plot: there's a lot of hyperbole in this game, which offsets the supposed seriousness of the holocaust. Yeah, the Earth's in bad shape after World War II, the Drug Wars of the '90s(heh), fake monks parade the Guardian's Citadel with automatic weapons, etc., but that doesn't mean technology has destroyed our ability to have a good laugh. One of your easiest tasks is to kill Harry the Bunny Master and his pets that have been ravaging a farm. On the way you can pick up NPC's(or kill them, if you're sadistic). But you'd better avoid radioactive ground. You can get stuck on stage at a club or swim in a pool to improve your swimming. And there are many different robot monsters to fight. There are also a few interesting touches, like nationality of your character(Russian/US/Mexico/China. Don't worry. This is P.C. Race doesn't affect your attributes!) There are bums aplenty, ready to give advice--some only when sober, some only when drunk. Oh, and you can use explosives. Lots of 'em. You'll need to, on some doors. TNT, RPG-7's. Just hope they don't backfire. 
+
+Graphics: Grid-based. people are rather badly drawn, but the text(which comes in paragraphs and contains some very funny parts--especially the ones you can't ever access) is the real highlight of this game. The pictures of monsters you are combatting are interesting, as are the pictures of store owners when you enter--different nationalities are drawn well--but that's about it. Lousy graphics keep this game from being a ten. Sound: machine-gun noises when you "empty a clip" in combat, along with bugle noises when you radio in to base and(hopefully) get promoted, are your best bets. 
+
+Controls: you can move around with IJKM and disband your party(especially during combat, to distract monsters), and there's always a challenge to build up new skills. You often want to keep track of your paty's health--if you get diseased or radiated, you can go unconscious and possibly get into serious condition--which leads to death. In this RPG, death actually is final, because there ain't no resurrection spells in the twenty-first century, and if there were, you couldn't spare the magic points. You can radio in for promotions(adds two hit points and skill points) as often as you'd like. There are also a lot of neat futuristic weapons, like AK-97's and even the obligatory energy rifles(these have energy packs for ammo--all guns need ammo and can get jammed, too, so you need to watch out!) There's even Power Armor to help stop such rifles from doing too much damage. 
+
+Replayability: a lot. You can even re-solve the game with the same players. It's possible to avoid a lot of puzzles and still make out okay or just to bull your way through them and things can work out. However, there's no real logic to solving the last puzzle, which is irritating. But the main part of the game is its humor. Without it, the game would probably be saddled with a social message. With it, the all the puzzles are vibrant and fun to solve. Hey, even the hint book(which I bought to solve the final puzzle) was a barrel of laughs. Which is a message and statement on RPG's themselves. 
+   
+Reviewer's Score: 9 / 10 

apple/REVIEWS/wizardscrown.txt

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+
+Wizard's Crown (Map-Maze Adventure)
+Compatibility: 48K Apple II, II+, IIe, IIgs, III
+Requirements: One disk drive; second drive, SpeeDemon recommended
+
+
+     For centuries the Fellowship of Wizards ruled glorious Arghan wisely and well, an achievement due in no small way to an artifact known as "The Crown of the Emperor". Great power is conferred with the crown's wearing; so this privilege was regularly rotated among the Fellowship-- that is, until one wearer decided that he would just as soon keep it for himself! Thus did Tarmon, Wizard of Thunder, provoke a war of magic, monsters, and steel from which Arghan has yet to recover.
+
+     In this SSI fantasy your party of up to eight worthies sets out to recover the crown, still worn by Tarmon, who has modestly renamed it the "Wizard's Crown". Your base of operations is an inn located within the walled core of the once great city state. Here you find buyers and sellers of weapons, armor, and magical services along with training grounds, shrines for healing, and taverns to boost morale-- in short, everything needed to launch a first class quest.
+
+     Tarmon, meanwhile, is securely enscounced in his castle deep within the vast, monster-infested Ruins to the south. Though you must ultimately face down the evil wizard on his home turf, most of the game is concerned with improving your characters, obtaining better equipment, gathering information, and locating certain key artifacts.
+
+     Wizard's Crown involves a good deal of moving about, usually as a single warrior figure on the large, scrolling Ultima-type map. Exceptions are during combat and exploration of a few important sites, when party members and any adversaries show up as individuals. At such times you can direct each character's movement and actions via single-key commands. If outdoors, walls, trees, ponds and other terrain features may appear; while, in a room, objects like tables, chests, and bookcases will be shown. 
+
+     You can almost always execute a search, and may, to a limited extent, manipulate and sometimes take items. For many players the major benefit of such detail will be the unusually involved combats, with your stalwarts maneuvering around obstacles, isolating groups of monsters, and smashing the enemy with tactical brilliancies. (Though you may opt for rapid, no-tactics "computer resolution".)  
+
+     Detail also adds a depth and richness more typical of picture-text adventures. This is nowhere more evident than in the game's finale. Tarmon's castle is a sprawling, multi-level affair repleat with hidden passages, traps, puzzles, real dungeons, and a wicked little maze that will drive you right up the wall unless you can find the map. Virtually a second adventure, the 'castle quest' is more involved than some complete games.
+
+     Offering clear, attractive graphics, adequate save/restore, and decent speed, Wizard's Crown reminds me of my current Nth-modification version of Instant Software's venerable "Santa Paravia"-- i.e., the game is an incredible kluge which just happens to be fun to play. 
+
+     Extensive character development incorporates the usual "fighter", "sorcerer", etc. professions, attributes, and some thirty "skills"; yet an elaborate system for weapons grading and improvement makes 'what you've got' fully as crucial as 'who you are'. While there are all sorts of spells, magic is not very important; and one profession, "ranger", confers skills which are never practiced. Top all this off with rambling, poorly organized documentation-- but add a touch of humor-- and, shazam!, you have a long-playing, thoroughly enjoyable adventure.
+
+
+Available from Strategic Simulations: 1046 N. Rengstorff Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043-1716. (415) 964-1353. $39.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME
+----------------------------------
+ 07    05    07    07    08    08

apple/REVIEWS/wwcarmen.txt

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+
+Review by Jeff Hurlburt
+          7814 Santa Elena
+          Houston, Texas  77061
+          713-645-8680
+
+
+WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO?
+
+Broderbund
+17 Paul Drive
+San Rafael, CA  94903
+(415) 479-1170
+
+List Price: $39.95
+Requires: Apple II Plus, IIe, or IIc; 64K RAM; one disk drive
+
+     A sound like a thousand click beetles tapdancing on your brainpan jars you from yet another dream of glory and promotion. It's the phone, your chief down at Acme, and your first assignment as a rookie detective. "A mighty slick caper," a gruff voice is saying, "looks like the Sandiego bunch. I'll fill in the details when you get here." It's also Monday, 5 a.m. and switching on the lights doesn't actually prove fatal. So much for the good news.
+
+     Unfortunately, the "details" include little more than a description of the item snatched, the name of a city, and a set of dossiers describing members of the Carmen Sandiego gang. "Slippery and mean" is the chief's offhand observation as he hands over a plane ticket and your passport. "Just remember, get an Interpol arrest warrant as soon as possible; you've got 'til 5 p.m. Sunday. Crack this one, Kid, and it'll mean a fat commission for the agency and a juicy promotion for you!"
+
+     Broderbund's "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" features advanced hires windowing, beautifully done city scenes, and more geography-oriented trivia than you can shake an atlas at. (So, naturally, a complete 1985 World Almanac is included.)  Sound effects, music, a few animation sequences, and a comprehensive manual round out one of the slickest, smoothest running game packages ever.
+
+     Each of an apparently endless supply of 'who done it' scenarios involves the theft of some priceless bauble by one of ten jetsetter thieves (Carmen and her gang). Your task is to track the culprit through four or more of some thirty cities spread across six continents and make an arrest before the deadline. Investigations at each locale yield clues pointing to the next city in the chase: "He said he was a copra buyer", with less frequent hints at your quarry's identity.
+
+     Success leads to boosts in rank as well as increasingly challenging scenarios. Higher ranking sleuths must cover more cities, spend less time in each, and occassionally take calculated risks. Yet only an Ace Detective can send Carmen herself over for the big fall, thus winning retirement in the "Detective Hall of Fame". "Hall" and "Roster" displays -the latter showing name, rank, and cases cleared for each player- come up automatically at the end of a session. (The manual erroneously refers users to CTRL keys to call up these displays.)
+
+     Though fine for lone players, " 'Carmen Sandiego's" full entertainment potential is most evident in family or gaming group settings. Everyone who sees the game wants to play; and practically anyone who reads can! A rare blend of highly educational trivia, deductive challenge, and humor, "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" is a refreshingly orignal contribution to computer gaming, a sure winner. (And that's one you can take to the bank, Carmen-- wherever you are!)
+
+

apple/REVIEWS/wwiscarmens.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+
+WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? (Knowledge Game)
+Compatible: 64K Apple II+, IIe, IIc
+Requirements: One disk drive, KB or joystick input
+
+
+     Somewhere in the world another priceless nic-nac has been snatched and everything points to one of Carmen Sandiego's gang of no goods. Armed with dossiers, a complete "World Almanac" (supplied with the game), and access to Interpol's Crime Computer, your assignment is to identify, track down, and arrest the culprit before the 5 p.m. Sunday deadline.
+
+     Representing the new crop of super slick, 'different' entertainment software, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego challenges knowledge of geographical trivia and deductive skills. Though your elusive quarry hops jets the way most people use taxis, he can't avoid leaving some destination and ID clues (e.g. "he changed his money to dollars" or "he had black hair").
+
+     Insightful investigation is the key. The one-week deadline doesn't leave much time for sightseeing, especially at the higher levels where the chase may lead through six or seven cities.
+
+     Nominally a single person game, "Carmen Sandiego" is best in small groups.  (It's more fun to be smart if someone else is watching.)
+
+     Each of an endless supply of scenarios takes only about twenty minutes; so, several players can compete, each to advance his or her sleuth's rank (saved on disk) and the chance to nab Carmen herself. (Hint: She's been seen wherever great games are sold.)
+
+
+Available from Broderbund: 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1170. $44.95
+
+
+GRFX  S.M.  PLAY  DIFF  INTR  GAME/ED
+----------------------------------
+ 09    09    09    06    08    09 /07