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^2                    M O N S T E R   I S L A N D .

^4                               LPD 72.

^2                           by Jeff Tullin.

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^7 One  day  you  find a bottle on the beach, inside is a message which
^7tells you that it was written by someone who is now stuck on a desert
^7island  full  of monsters.  Needless to say, this poor castaway would
^7like  to  get home as quickly as possible.  You have to go to Monster
^7island, find the castaway and take him to a radio beacon, also hidden
^7on the island, where you can call for someone to rescue you.

^1 This  is  a  children's  role  playing  game,  which has many of the
^1features  of a full blown game without all the awesome gameplay which
^1would  be  above  the  ability of younger children.  Some kids do not
^1like  monsters, but here they are displayed as small pictures of such
^1beasties  as  a  giant,  a  wolf and a gigantic spider, which are not
^1really  as  frightening as the huge gorey graphics which seem to leap
^1out  from the screen in the dungeon roleplayers.  This game is set in
^1daylight, so you can see everything.

^7 You  can  pick your character from a choice of five and name him/her
^7anything  you  like.   Then you can chose between easy and hard.  The
^7easy option shows you the positions on the map where the radio beacon
^7and  the  castaway are located, the hard option hides them for you to
^7discover for yourself.

^1 The screen display shows a map of the island and as you move around,
^1the  places  you  have visited are marked so you can see where you've
^1been. 

^7  There  is  a small square where there is a picture of your location
^7and anything that might be waiting there for you.

^1 On  the  bottom half of the screen are the status boxes which show a
^1picture  of  the  character, your name, things you have found and the
^1energy and gold levels.  The `action' section of the screen is at the
^1bottom right and here is displayed the compass to tell the game which
^1direction you wish to move.

^7 Also  this  is  where  you  `fight'  the  monsters.  If a monster is
^7visible, you have the option of fighting, running or bribing it.  You
^7can run at any time, but you always seem to get slightly injured, you
^7may  bribe  if  you  have  gold,  but this doesn't always satisfy the
^7beasty.   If you choose to fight, two square alternate on the screen,
^7you  have  to use your skill and judgement to click at the right time
^7to  hit  the  monster,  if you miss, he hits you.  The amount of hits
^7needed to kill a monster depends on the weopons you are carrying.

^1 You  must  find  the  castaway  and the radio beacon before all your
^1energy  has gone, if you are lucky enough to find a fountain, you can
^1get your energy restored.

^7 This  is  a good introduction to roleplaying games, the graphics are
^7very  good,  the  monsters  were  drawn  by  Colin  White who did the
^7illustrations for Jeff's version of `Shymer' (LPD 30).

^1 The  only  criticism I can find is that a monster appears every time
^1you  move.   If monsters came along randomly, I think it would add to
^1the suspense of the game. Knowing that you have to fight etc at every
^1move  does  take  away a bit of the excitement of trying to avoid the
^1monsters as you move around.

^2 Apart from this, it is a well presented game with lots of action and
^2things to do. Recommended.

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