^^ RETURN TO ZANTIS REVIEW By Andy Gibson That nice chap, Lee Bamber, has sent myself a courtesy copy of Return To Zantis to have a go at. (RTZ from now on) If anyone hasn't heard of Relics Of Deldroneye, I'd advise you to go and buy that first as RTZ is a mini-sequel to fill the gap between Relics 1 and Relics 2. I can't really say too much about the plot for RTZ as it would spoil the game for you! What I will say is that the game is really good, as you would expect. Even although this `filler game' is on 1 disk, the game itself is still quite large. Many of the old locations from Relics 1 are still here as well as some new ones too. The gfx are great and I believe they are all in 64 EHB mode. This does make a change from the normal 32 colour adventure games. Lee has certainly taken his time with this game and thought out the storyline down to fine detail as always. The puzzles are very well thought out and are not too hard for anyone to work out, with a bit of thought at times. Don't feel let down if you think you have seen all this before in Relics 1. This is only a mini-link- sequel game after all. I'm not saying the puzzles or indeed the storyline are similar to Relics 1, but the gfx for most lacations have been seen before! However, this is pretty obvious due to the fact that you are returning to Zantis. What would you expect it to have looked like? There are the usual blend of new and some old characters to interact with and the game is quite funny at times also. Relics fans will feel right at home with the control panel and its various uses/commands etc. Very easy to use and the game needs no instructions at all. Anyone who has NEVER played a graphic adventure (where have you been?) will be able to get straight into the game with no problems. As per norm, just point and click and off you go ... I certainly can't wait to play Relics 2 and RTZ has just remined me of how good Relics 1 was. It has done the trick for me. I will certainly be buying Relics 2 very soon. RTZ is a nice little game which will take many hours to complete (probably) if you're not used to this type of game. Lee has done it again and no doubt this will be a major selling title. Originally written for the Amiga Format Amos Compo. After some demand, Lee had no option but to release this masterpiece. I'm glad he did. It's just right for filling the gap between Relics 1 and Relics 2. For those peeps out there that have been under the impression that Relics or RTZ have been written with GRAC, you're quite wrong! I don't know why people keep referring to Relics and GRAC together! The Relics series have been coded from scratch by Lee and it shows too. Nice little touches not available in GRAC shine through. The use of a graphic inventory is a dead giveaway for a start! Lee has done wonders with his own code and I don't think anyone else has ever written as good a system as Lee has for any Amos created graphic adventure game. (or can anyone prove me wrong?) Lee certainly deserves more credit for the actual coding routines than he gets in my opinion. I'm sure his code could rival GRAC if he was ever to release his own editor! (I don't see why he doesn't as he would make an absolute fortune from sales). In saying that, Lee admits that his own code/editor used to create the Relics games would be hard for the end user to understand due to all the usual mish mash of code.) Obviously it has been written by Lee for his own use and would probably not be easy for other users to get to grips with. Still, I think Lee has done wonders and it still proves he is one of the best Amos coders in the world - if not THE best :-) Anyway, I'm getting of the track here! Final verdict: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gfx - 95% (very good indeed, great use of palettes) Game - 96% (Great puzzles and playability) Code - 100% (Lee has done it again. Can't be beaten) Price - 85% (I think some peeps will feel let down!) *** Overall - 98% (The game is what it says - a space filler :-) Available from F1 Software at the usual address or any of F1's distributors. Price: £3.99 +50p P+P costs. Disks: Supplied on 1 floppy disk. *** Please do take note that this is NOT supposed to be a huge game it is what it states, a mini-sequel only. However, it is a very good game worth every penny in my opinion, but the again, I did get my copy for Free from Lee :-) Thanx m8. Keep up the good work. End.