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ELIDON
Orpheus,
£8.95 cass, joystick or keys
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Deep
within a beautiful, enchanted forest grow the seven
flowers of Finvarra. These flowers have been woven into
a garland and are said to be fit for a queen to wear
upon her head. Alas, the flowers need to bloom and this
is where you come in as a faerie. In order to get the
flowers to open their dainty little petals, seven potions
-- one for each flower -- must be recovered and brought
back to the hallowed circle. Then, and only then, can
the true nature of the crown be understood.
These
potions are scattered about the forest and its multitude
of locations. Various items of flora and fauna grace
these locations in the form of platforms and obstacles,
along with the occasional forest inhabitant or two (or
even three). The platforms can be stood on but not run
into, and flowers, ferns, and other plants must also
be avoided. Some of these creatures rob you of energy
while others send you tumbling.
When
moving from one location to another, the screen flicks
to the next location instead of scrolling. Each location
has an exit, or exits, leading from it in one, or all,
of four directions. Some locations are dark and foreboding
places where all the platforms are invisible. The eyes
of jealous spirits open and close in the gloom and need
to be avoided as they steal faerie dust from you.
Extra
faerie dust and lucky charms lie about the forest and
may be picked up to replenish energy, although the charms
are occasionally deadly to the touch, so it's a chance
you take. Other useful items may be happened upon, such
as a set of Pan pipes and a horn. You can only hold
three objects at a time, and any held are displayed
to the right of the screen along with the number of
lives remaining, your score and your current energy
status.
Unusually
lovely graphics and soothing music turn
ELIDON into a peaceful game with a hidden bite.
You
start with four lives and lose one each time your energy
runs out. On losing a life the faerie's wings are removed
and she floats to the ground. If there is nothing below
her when she falls, she will continue to fall until
she hits solid ground.
The
faerie is controlled through either joystick or keys.
She can fly through open space and hover with the aid
of the fire button, but she must walk along the ground
and can only take off in an open space. A piece of suitably
appropriate faerie music plays throughout the game but
can be turned off if so desired. There is also an option
to restart and a pause function (yay!) exists.
At
the end of the game (not THE end as in compete), your
score is displayed along with the percentage of rooms
explored and a special score verification code.
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