In this text adventure, you play a rascal named Filbur Apse who enjoys upsetting people. One day he made the mistake of annoying an old man who turned out to be a wizard. This angry wizard cast a spell on Filbur that left him with the appearance of a really nice person. The only person who can lift this spell is the witch in the woods. After meeting her, Filbur is told to find all of the ingredients required to cast a new spell. Witch Hunt is a well written adventure that is packed full of rich and amusing detail. You soon become engrossed in this fictional world and can almost touch, smell and taste your surroundings. Your progress in this game is also rewarded with points; keep an eye on your score. An increase in your score is a sign that something you've found is important – and here's a tip; to unlock the witch's front door, pretend you're a postman.

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Wizard's Lair
(Bubble Bus, 1985)

Pothole Pete was exploring when he came across the mysterious Wizard's Lair – but in order to escape, he has to find the four pieces of the Golden Lion, and reach the top level of the lair. His task is made harder by the many monsters lurking in all the rooms. The range of objects to be found and collected is almost as enormous as the lair itself, and it's easy to miss a section which might contain part of the Golden Lion. The graphics are good with some very clever use of colour mixing, and the sound effects are average. There's so much to discover in this game, though, and that's what I like so much about it. It's a game you can really keep coming back to.

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Surely a contender for Game With the Most Unintentionally Funny Title, Wizard Willy has you in the role of a young trainee wizard who sets out to rid the land of demons. The game itself is a traditional side-scrolling platformer-cum-shoot-'em-up, and the graphics are great – very detailed and colourful. The sound effects are spot on too (lots of lovely explosions!) but with graphics and sound on such a high level, something's got to give. And that something is the ridiculous slowdown that occurs when too many bad guys are on screen. Add to that the mind-blowing difficulty of the game (it's hard even by Amstrad standards!), and the fact that despite its nice visuals, it's actually really boring, and you have a pretty dire game.

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Wizball
(Ocean, 1987)

The wizard Zark has eliminated all colour from Wizworld and left it grey. As Wizball, you and your faithful sidekick Catelite have come to restore colour to the nine levels of Wizworld. This is done by shooting red, green and blue bubbles and collecting the droplets from them and obtaining enough of each to make the right colours. You also have to collect green pearls and use them to give Wizball more power. There are only three types of monster, and it's extremely frustrating when you get stuck in the scenery and can't get out. Still, it's an original concept for a game and one which is hugely enjoyable.

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Last night's drinking session at the Duck and Plunger inn resulted in Ralph's friend, Mike, being turned into a salamander as a party trick. Not surprisingly, Mike was not amused by this, and incarcerated Ralph in the dungeons beneath his castle. You'll have to call on your familiar spirit to help you out – if you can recall his name... This text adventure has been written using GAC, but it lacks atmosphere. The setting of dungeons and a castle to explore is good enough, but the text isn't very descriptive, the locations are laid out in a very illogical manner, and little thought seems to have been given to the puzzles, which seem to have been inserted into the game at random with no coherence – a bit like Ralph, come to think of it!

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"Underground, overground, wombling free, the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we..." The Wombles are a bunch of shy creatures who live in their burrow below Wimbledon Common. Great Uncle Bulgaria has sent young Orinoco and Wellington to fetch some items and collect litter. You control Orinoco and must wander around the common, fetching the items before Wellington does, or you will lose a life. The hard mode adds some further dangers such as avoiding humans and the animals which inhabit the common (those squirrels are nasty, you know). The graphics are colourful and appealing, but there's hardly any variety in the game at all and it will soon become a bit boring.

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Rescue your girlfriend from the evil monster that has kidnapped her in this somewhat typical platformer. As Wonder Boy you must navigate the local scenery; running and jumping around avoiding traps, collecting fruit bonuses and nobbling off any passing creatures that get in your way. The special power-ups such as the skateboard and the bonus levels up in the clouds are a nice idea, but this fails to distract from what is quite a dull game. The graphics here are also relatively poor, especially when you compare them to examples such as Rodland or Rainbow Islands. One for platformer fans only.

See also: Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land.

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This is a cute puzzle game where you must push three multi-coloured balls around the screen so that they form a straight line – but they're fragile and will smash if you're not careful. Instead, you must manoeuvre some blue spheres into position and push the balls towards them – but the spheres are fragile as well, so some thinking is required. There are other hazards to watch out for and avoid while you're trying to do all of this. The graphics are OK, but there are very few sound effects, and while the gameplay is good, it's a little on the slow side and it can be frustrating at times.

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One of the worst football games on the CPC ever. Why? Well, if the terrible graphics haven't put you off (yes, it's Spectrum port time again!), the gameplay certainly will. You can take part in the World Cup or a friendly match as one of 24 nations, choosing which players you want to use in each match. There is a multitude of problems with the game, though. Passing and tackling are all but impossible; you can't seem to select another player to control on your team; the length of matches is far too long and can't be adjusted; and the game is much, much too easy – just grab the ball during kick-offs in the first half, and run with it all the way to the other team's goal. This is a truly shambolic excuse for a football game which is best forgotten about.

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World Class Leaderboard
(US Gold, 1987)
Reviewed by Guillaume Chalard

This is probably the best golf game for the CPC. You must prove your skills through four courses and three difficulty levels (ranging from kids to professional). The graphics are cute and colourful, and they appear rather quickly on the screen. There's a little loading time between each hole but it's worth the wait, because the gameplay is excellent. Even with a joystick, it's really easy to control the pace and the effects of your shots – but beware of the wind and the slope, and choose your club cleverly...

See also: Leader Board.

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