ARC OF YESOD (c)1985-1986 Odin-Thor Design: S. Fotheringham and C. Grunes Programming: R. Tinman Music: Fred Gray ---------------------------- DESCRIPTION Arc of Yesod is quite a wacky action adventure game as its prequel Nodes of Yesod was. It uses the basic platform genre combined with a quite complex use of the joystick or keys. The use of the controls will take some time to get used to. I would not attempt to use the keyboard controls... The graphics smell of the spectrum machine where this game was first conceived, but they are pretty nice. A map of the world to explore is available separately and greatly helps. The music can be turned off, which greatly helps too after a while (and it will take a looong while to finish the game...). CONTROLS Joystick and keyboard. Key selection by user is NOT provided. CRTL aborts the game. RETURN pauses the game (quite cute - Charlie sits down...). INSTRUCTIONS After his adventures in NODES OF YESOD, Charlemagne Fotheringham-Grunes is once again called upon to save mankind. At the end of NODES, the alien Monolith teleported off the Moon back to its homeworld of Ariat. Charlie has followed it there and must destroy it before the hostile Arians download the sensitive information on Earth which it has collected. Charlie must traverse the caverns below Ariat to reach the Security Centre where the Monolith is being examined. Arriving on the surface, he must find a convenient manhole down which to enter the caverns. A teleport system exists within the labyrinth, and Charlie can zap between locations by stepping into one of the various transporters. Apart from the usual static obstacles, there are also a wide variety of strange alien creatures to hinder you. Contact isn't immediately fatal but it does drain your life energy which, if drained completely, will lead to the loss of one of your lives. In the meantime, Charlie must search for eight crystals of the same color before he can have a go at the Monolith (as in "Nodes"). Charlie has a useful tool in the form of a Sphere, or Electronic Mole (no longer a regular lunar mole...), which is released from his backpack by pushing the joystick up while Charlie faces you (an improvement in the controls over Nodes of Yesod), and can be controlled then by the joystick (Charlie has to remain immobile while you do this). Recall the sphere by moving it back to Charlie. The Sphere can get rid of the aliens by shooting them using the fire button. It can also open concealed secret passages by bumping into the masonry covering them (certain kind). Charlie is armed with a limited supply of Smart Bombs which wipe out all the aliens on screen when detonated by pushing the joystick down. Extra lives under the form of helmets can be found in the cavern which also to replenish the smart bombs. SEQUELS/PREQUELS This game is the follow up to Nodes of Yesod. SCORES RECEIVED Crash: "A great little game, very much the follow on to Nodes of Yesod - maybe too similar". RATING : 89% (CRASH #26, March 1986) This is a spectrum version comment, where a joystick is NOT available...