Known as Eden Blues to French readers, this is another adventure action game from ERE. You're a prisoner who tries to escape from a high security jail. You have to avoid the robots that patrol the compound and find food, wine and coffee (it's a French game!) to restore your health. The graphics are really good and manage to create a gloomy atmosphere. Your character is funny, even when he dies, which will happen very often. The game is very hard indeed; every move you make costs health points. You have to bash doors to progress (which lowers your strength) and your vitality decreases every second. So it's nearly impossible to stay alive for more than five minutes. Without this flaw, it could have been a really good game.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

There's not much of a story to this game – just walk about and collect all the pieces of the Doors of Doom before you run out of energy. There are purple monsters which float and waste your energy, but there are refreshing cups of tea lying about to increase it again (I don't like tea, myself). The graphics are relatively simple but still very bright and colourful, although sound effects aren't as good – and don't mention the music! It also comes with its own scenery editor if you want to design your own levels.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Become a sorceress as you explore the Castle of Doom in an attempt to find some treasure. The element of thinking that appears in this game is that both you and your ghostly doppelgänger (that's the correct spelling of the word, by the way) can go through some doors but not others, so to reach the same room, you and your alter ego often need to take different routes. There are also objects to collect, and watch out for the spiders that will drain your energy. The problem with this game, though, is that the spiders are hard to avoid, and you have no idea what the objects are used for, or how to use them. This is a shame because the concept behind the game is clever and the graphics are quite impressive.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

Billy's girlfriend Marian has been kidnapped by a ruthless gang, so he has to go and save her. As you might have guessed, this is a run-of-the-mill beat-em-'up consisting of five levels, and it is almost certainly one of, if not the easiest game ever to come out on the CPC; you should be able to complete it on your first go! The graphics are pretty neat and very colourful, but the only sound to be heard is when you're punching bad guys. The game also moves and scrolls extremely slowly, and it's likely that you'll probably switch off rather than bother to complete it.

See also: Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

Billy and Jimmy are back – and so are the Black Warriors who have been resurrected from the dead, thanks to one surviving member, and this time they've not kidnapped Marian, but just plain killed her! Thereby all that was achieved in the prequel is thrown out of the window. Needless to say, cue much head butting, punching and kicking of various thugs who come in all shapes and sizes with their own fighting styles. Essentially more of the same, the back end of this game is exactly the same as the first; it looks and sounds just right and plays equally so. The Spanish conversion of the game, which looks very different and is much worse than this version, can be downloaded here.

See also: Double Dragon, Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone.

More information on CPCSOFTS

7

Marian has been kidnapped again – typical, eh? However, Billy has to go in search of some rosetta stones. The journey takes him around the world to six different countries. Billy also has ten coins which function as his lives, as well as allowing him to buy power-ups by walking into a shop at the start of each level. Like the first game in the series, it's far too slow and far too easy, and it's not worth trying to complete – it'll take you far too long to do it. The backgrounds are nice, though, even if they're in monochrome.

See also: Double Dragon, Double Dragon II: The Revenge.

More information on CPCSOFTS

3

Zambadlos, the King of Darkness, is threatening the Agamen Empire with his black magic. It is up to Kayas, King of the Agamen Empire, and Bahamoot, the Dragon of Light, to destroy Zambadlos and send him back to the realm of darkness. This is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up, but the dragon you control has a long, flexible tail which can be manoeuvred and used to kill enemies – although you can still use the traditional methods of shooting missiles and breathing fire at them. It all sounds good, but it turns out to be quite a lousy game. It's a horrible Spectrum port, complete with colour clash. Because the playing area is very small, and the dragon occupies a lot of the screen, it's difficult to avoid enemies, and if you crash into any of them, you are sent back a long way. It's not fun to play at all.

More information on CPCSOFTS

4

A wealth of treasure is guarded by a dragon in a castle, and you aim to claim some of this treasure. The castle consists of six rooms which contain different hazards. You have to survive until the doorway to the next room opens; how long you need to survive depends on which of the three difficulty levels you have selected. When you've reached the final room, you must collect the treasure while avoiding the dragon and return to the first room. With only six rooms, there's hardly a game to speak of, and everything about the game is banal. Amazingly, it's written in machine code, but you wouldn't believe it after you've played it!

More information on CPCSOFTS

0

King Aethelred's beautiful daughter, Princess Daphne, has been kidnapped by the evil dragon Singe! Dirk the Daring, the King's most favoured knight, sets out to rescue Daphne before Singe kills her. The arcade version of this game was revolutionary at the time, and there are eight challenges for Dirk to complete here. Unfortunately, they're extremely difficult – the first level is tough enough, but the second level is impossible! The graphics are reasonable (although the title screen is very good), and so is the music, but it's a real shame that you can't choose which levels you want to play at the start of the game.

See also: Escape from Singe's Castle.

More information on CPCSOFTS

5

Princess Alicia has been captured by the evil serpent demon Zawell, but it seems that the only being who can rescue her is a magical flying dragon, and that's what you are in this vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up. Flying over eight levels, you must simply dodge or throw fireballs at the flying enemies, and drop bombs on the beasts on the ground. You can collect power-ups by dropping bombs on eggs. Unfortunately, they are few and far between, and they're of little use anyway. The graphics are nicely drawn and very colourful, although the sound effects are poor, but it's basically just another shoot-'em-up, and a very difficult one as well – I can just about complete the first level without cheating.

More information on CPCSOFTS

6