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Thursday
9.02pm.
Abu Simbel is at heart a simple game: collect the various symbols and connect them to their host which will open a door or transport you onto the next level. It's utterly linear and very difficult to actually get lost or wander aimlessly around, which is frankly a bit of a relief after Game Over had me pounding the levels in frustration.

9.05pm.
The collision detection is driving me crazy. In the picture here you can see two snakes and a block is clearly visible around the second one, showing you clearly the issues that this has. I'm not making much progress as indeed the first few screens are ridiculously tough.

9.15pm.
My patience has worn out already; save states come into regular play and on some screens I save two or three times depending on how many enemies there are on screen.

9.20pm.
There are also several infinite loop deaths a la Jet Set Willy, which are never nice to see.

9.25pm.
I'm making really good progress and am starting to see some neat variations in the levels: there are some ice caverns (bit weird seeing as we're in Egypt) and some water-based screens.

9.30pm.
Many of the later screens are quite easy, but I never would have got to them without saves.

9.35pm.
I finally get to a screen with five fuzzyily coloured blocks. I jump into one and am transported onto a huge diamond. Is this the end? Or another trap? I assume the latter as the title screen re-appears.

9.37pm.
I jump into another fuzzy block and lo and behold am suddenly in another screen! A devilish level this one, and it takes a few minutes to work out the route.

9.45pm.
Cowabunga! A proper end screen pops up, an entombed (yet colourful) Pharoah lies dormant with a message (in Spanish) scrolling above. I have presumably looted everything I can!

Completion time: 77 minutes
Emulator saves: 68
Emulator reloads: 252
Difficulty factor: 66%
Frustration: 51%

MEET Johnny Jones, no relation whatsoever to Indiana. It is clearly coincidence that Johnny also spends his time leaping through the death traps of a forbidden Egyptian temple.


Spanish software house Dinamic has licensed its successful game to Gremlin Graphics so we too can thrill to purple blob Johnny's attempts to reach the mortuary and free himself from the curse of Ramses II.

We are not told whether he's a purple blob because of the curse or because he was born that way, but who cares? Profanation is a viciously difficult jump-and-dodge game, programmed in vivid graphics which lift it above the usual run of Manic Miner bandwagon passengers.

You will have to be pixel-perfect to surmount some problems. The acidic drops which abound in the cavern complex can usually be jumped if you judge the timing correctly.

If you still can't get past them try getting Johnny right on the edge of the platforms, just out of range of the splash, before you jump.

Later you will discover some really filthy tricks - there are sections of ceiling, two on screen three, where jumping enables you to spider-walk on the roof. Gremlin gives absolutely nothing away in the packaging, and you are in for a real lulu of a brainbuster if you seriously intend to get through all 45 screens.

While there is nothing particularly original about Profanation, it is one of the best we have seen.


Publisher Gremlin Graphics Price £7.95
Memory 48K Joystick Kempston
****

Chris Bourne

ABU SIMBEL PROFANATION
Gremlin Graphics / £7.95

Ross: If you're looking for exotic moments of Eastern promise, then get back to your Turkish Delight. Abu Simbel Profanation may be set in Egypt, but it's about as full of oriental mystique as a Chinese take-away. The graphic backdrops make decent scenery but unfortunately, there's nothing too theatrical about the action.
Forget the idea of majestic looking Egyptian Pharaohs, the man whose strings you have to pull is more of a blob on legs. His movements are jerky rather than heroic, and he escapes the collision detection pretty successfully at times.
Timing your jumps in the first screen is enough to try the patience of a mummy. Also, immortality in this game is a little mundane. When you lose one of your many lives, you reappear at the point where you entered the room. This is no joke as often you've spent a while trying to defeat one obstacle, only to be killed by another further into the room.
It's all pretty mediocre stuff, and I doubt Cleopatra would be charmed if she played it. 4/10
Rick: You can tell why Gremlin calls this Profanation - I'd be swearing if I was permanently stuck in this Egyptian hokum. 4/10
Dougie: Everything seemed against me, including the jerky graphics. I liked the idea of the game ... but the reality never quite came up to the expectations. 3/10