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The Cave of Time (Picture/Text Adventure)
Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
Requirement: One disk drive; joystick optional
by Jeff Hurlburt
If a grench can steal Christmas, then it should come as no surprise that Evil Time Grouches have stolen history. Actually, what those pesky grouches have done is snatch four key objects from different periods: a shard of flint from some cavemen, a large egg from the Loch Ness Monster, a golden crown from the time of castles and kings, and President Lincoln's famous stovepipe hat. Paradoxes aside, the long-term affects of these thefts upon history are awesome to contemplate. Bantam's multiple-setting adventure launches you on an epoch-spanning quest to recover the precious artifacts and return each to its proper owner-- a feat only possible if you are prepared to brave the mysterious Cave of Time!
The three-way fork you encounter upon entering the cave branches left and right to the four time portals and downward to the grouches' dungeon, where the items are secured in separate cells. To obtain each object you must enter the dungeon, defeat the grouches in a swordfight, and search one of the cells. Fortunately, the guards don't care much for swordplay, so this part is easy. The real challenge is to find your way to the correct time and win through the mini-adventure to return an item. Each is very different, with additional items to obtain and use, personages to meet, and questions to answer. Sometimes, as in the swordfights or riding a wooly mammoth in caveman times, low level arcade skills are tested as well.
Since player adventuring inputs are via multiple-choice responses and none of the scenarios is especially involved, winning, on first inspection, appears absurdly easy. However, such minor slip-ups as a wrong answer or falling off the mammoth tend to disrupt the flow of time and you are hurled back to the cave (with items in tact). But, if you happen to arrive at a critical juncture without a needed tool, everything is lost. Also, there is no save/restore option and cave passages are randomly arranged upon powerup-- fair enough, as the game is entirely winnable in a single two or three hour session.
Adapted from the popular "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series, "The Cave of Time" is a well-integrated, nicely-paced medium level challenge. Providing a score based upon such achievements as winning a swordfight and returning an object is a good idea, since most players will tackle the game several times before winning; but not saving scores to diskette is a blunder. (Achievements unsaved are achievements unsung!) Still, with excellent scenario graphics, decent sound, and frequent use of animation, "The Cave of Time" is an attractive, fun to play adventure well suited to ages nine through adult.
Available from Bantam Software: 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10103. (212) 765 6500. $34.95
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