Commodore User


Never Mind

Author: Mark Patterson
Publisher: Psyclapse
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in Commodore User #76

Never Mind

Fresh from the glamour boys of packaging comes a rather meekly boxed piece of software. Unfortunately the accompanying game is also rather slight.

Never Mind aims for that rather difficult area in computer gaming - puzzles. In order for a puzzle game to retain any lasting interest it needs to be outstandingly original with a playability level to match. Never Mind is without doubt original, but fails to fun hurdle by presenting problems which not only fail to tax the mind, but also cause a severe case of eye strain with it.

The object of the puzzles is to recreate a picture. Sometimes this involves picking pieces up and placing them in respective holes, like a jigsaw. Other puzzles requite a close inspection of the picture to find which pieces need to be switched round. A set amount of the time limit can be 'cashed in' to give you a higher bonus score, though what little time there is, is too precious to lose. When you complete a set amount of levels the computer churns out a password allowing you to restart from that point in future, which is a very useful addition.

In an attempt to make the game more playable and appeal to a wider variety of people it utilises an arcade adventure style movement system, whereby you control a barbarian-like character to move the pieces around the screen. Instead of being restricted to just the floor space all the walls are linked to the ground through portals. The resulting effect leaves you wandering about aimlessly. One of the major problems is working out which walls can be reached from a certain point, so you tend to miss the obvious routes.

While sporting some nice 3D effects, the graphics are pretty crude, with most attention paid to the picture puzzles. That doesn't add much to the overall game. Never Mind failed right from the moment I loaded it up. It's too hard, too tedious and it's repetitive. A poor example of a puzzler.

Mark Patterson