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At one with the elements
ZENJI is a strange game but one which has become a cult in the United States. It is an Activision import which has been hurriedly translated to the Spectrum.


In order to become a master you must rely on your intuition to feel the forces flowing through the game's maze. Your playing piece is a face which revolves as you move the joystick or the keypad defined on the keyboard.

It starts at a central element and you must move it round the corridors and connect it to other elements which lie at the nodes of the corridors. If you hit a connection then a power wave is started between the original and new element and a link established. Part of the maze lights up with the radiance that those sources give off.

The higher levels of the game involves mazes which fill the whole screen and creatures which will only be too happy to feed on the energy that propels your character. If you bump into one then you will lose a life.

You will find that you will get better at the game and reach the higher levels but in Zenji experience is gained through insight and not mental reasoning. There is a way to beat the game at all its levels using logic but that spoils the excitement and we do not intend to reveal the answer.

Ultimately, Zenji is a test for two players. When you have enough mastery over the mazes then you should find a friend to pit your wits against.



John Gilbert


ZENJI Memory: 48K Price: £7.99 Joystick: Programmable, Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor Gilbert Factor: 8

ZENJI
Activision / £7.99

Dave: Zenji is the latest in a long line of computerised puzzles and it comes complete with the obligatory mish-mash of philosophical bits and pieces that are traditionally used to jazz up this type of program.
In order to achieve 'Zenji' you must rotate the maze 'elements' (straight lines, corner pieces and 'T' shapes) so that they all join up with a particular element known as the 'source'. Rotation is achieved by moving your face-shaped player to the centre of the element you wish to turn and pressing a special key (or the joystick button) along with a rotation key. In normal use the rotation keys move you left and right, with two more keys for up and down. There's a time limit for the completion of each maze (which get bigger as the game progresses) and 'Flames of Desire' appear which follow you around and quite rightly provoke fatal consequences if touched.
Zenji will appeal mostly to puzzle enthusiasts but on the higher levels it becomes quite a test of arcade skill. As the cassette sleeve says, you have to 'let go' and leave your fingers to do the work on their own. 3/5

Ross: Quite an intriguing little mind-twister with reasonable graphics and easy-to understand instructions. However, that's not saying it's easy to play. If you like 'thinking' games, then this could be worth a look. 2/5

Roger: The 'Flames Of Desire' are not a threat I learned to fancy much but that's not because I suffer 'illusions' ... Lust for success and puzzling enlightenment failed to overcome my lack of skill, Oh Grey One ... 4/5

Ross 2/5
Roger 4/5
Dave 3/5

Ross Holman, Roger Willis, Dave Nicholls