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This is a great game and one that I'm sure many adventurers have never even heard of. If you're one of the lucky ones who has already played this, then pat yourself on the back and move along. If not, then pull your chair closer and read more. As you're probably aware, Mikrogen were not famed for their adventures, but in The Witch's Cauldron they manage to combine their famous arcade graphics with a top notch adventure. The cauldron of the title is where you must mix a concoction to return you to your normal human state, having been transformed into a frog by the evil Witch Hazel. The top half of the screen depicts you and your surroundings and as you issue commands via the traditional text input you can watch them carried out in arcade fashion. It's not all gloss though - beneath the flashy visuals is a challenging game that any adventurer will enjoy.

WHY IS life so tough? There you are minding your own business, an ordinary human on the Clapham omnibus, when Hazel the witch arrives and turns you into a slimy toad.

Hazel has now imprisoned you in her island home and, naturally enough, you want to become human again and get back to Clapham. You must go through a series of transformations by using spells, potions and all other magical impedimenta lying around Hazel's dwelling. Warning - this won't be easy.

The game is a text adventure with superb location graphics. As you move around the rooms - whether you happen currently to be, a toad, cat, ape or whatever - you are shown in the position you have moved to - on top of a sofa, under the piano. In this sense the graphics are interactive.

The program is technically polished with a large vocabulary and about 100 locations. You can type in reasonably complex English and the input is very firm, allowing fast typing.

The plot is inventive and good-natured whilst the business of finding the correct things for your next change is quite tantalising. Change too soon and you may find you've missed something you could have done only in a different shape.

The Witch's Cauldron should be entertaining enough for the whole family. Splendid fun!



Richard Price

WITCH'S CAULDRON Mikro-Gen Memory: 48K Price: £5.95 Gilbert Factor: 7

THE WITCH'S CAULDRON
Mikro-Gen / £6.95

Ross: Mikro-Gen are producing some very good pieces of software these days, and this text and graphic adventure is no exception. In the best of fairy-tale traditions, the plot is based on a Prince who having been turned into a toad, is now trying to regain his regal form.
The wicked witch, Hazel, cast the spell that transformed the Prince, and it's her abode that you have to hop around collecting all the ingredients necessary to make a potion in the witch's cauldron and then drink it. On your travels you may turn into many other forms, which can be useful but can also make you vulnerable to attack; for example, try turning from a toad into a bat and you'll be eaten by the cat.
I'm not a great fan of adventures but I liked this one very much. The illustrations of each room (which appear at the top of the screen) are detailed and drawn quickly, and the idea of the toad moving about the picture as you give it instructions is quite novel. Above all, this adventure is very user-friendly, it understood most of what I typed in and didn't expect that strange dialect I call 'adventure-speak'.
Overall, a humorous and well- designed game that I'd recommend highly. 3/5

Dave: Being able to see yourself moving around on-screen is a nice touch, but then there's lots of humour in this game. Red herrings abound and the puzzles are more than difficult. Addictive enough to keep you hopping back for more. 3½/5

Roger: One for the pot - in that any literate, difficult, but somewhat sluggardly, cerebral adventure game can earn its supernatural keep. 3/5