NEVERMIND

 Psygnosis is well-known by now for its exceptional games. NEVERMIND is one of
its latest releases on the more budget-conscious Psyclapse label, and it's worth
every penny. It's exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally well-designed...and
exceptionally difficult. Let me just say up-front that if you've been frustrated
by the level of difficulty in previous Psygnosis/Psyclapse releases, steer clear
of this one: It requires every ounce of reflex and brain skills you can possibly
summon. I sometimes wonder whether Psygnosis actually designs its games on other
planets for beings whose reflexes and intelligence far exceed our own. (This
review is based on the Amiga version; Atari ST version notes follow.)

 NEVERMIND is a puzzle game. Your objective is to use your little onscreen
persona to pick up and place tiles properly so as to finish a picture. There are
250 different levels and pictures (called "rooms"), and each level consists of a
different picture and a very specific kind of puzzle. (There is very little
repetition in the design.)

 Every room includes a series of vertical and horizontal planes, set at right
angles to each other. Each plane is divided into a collection of square tiles
that you can pick up or drop by pressing the fire button. The picture is always
on a vertical plane (you might not be able to see it otherwise, of course), but
getting to it might involve traversing a series of both horizontal and vertical
surfaces, depending on the puzzle. The figure you manipulate with your joystick
has the equivalent of "grav-shoes," and can walk on walls and horizontal steps
without any trouble. You usually move from plane to plane within a puzzle by
using what are called "warp tubes," though sometimes it's possible to flip to a
new angle using the stepped blocks. You never know where a warp tube is going to
place you within the puzzle room, so a certain amount of repeated trial and
error is involved in the solution of each puzzle.

 There is a time limit for each room: At the beginning, it's quite short, but it
increases as you move farther into the game. The faster you finish a room, the
bigger the bonus you'll receive. The time limit seems just about right, although
you'll have to play each puzzle through a number of times before you can finish
it within the limit.

 The pictures become progressively more difficult (both to visualize and to
complete) as you go from room to room; sometimes they're animated, making
visualization alone a challenging task. Sometimes you not only have to find the
missing pieces, but rearrange pieces already within the picture to make the
picture whole. This is one of the most difficult aspects of the game, as you can
pick up and replace tile after tile within the picture for a good long time
(during repeated attempts on the puzzle) before figuring out which lines or
edges match with which other ones. Imagine playing a rapidly animated jigsaw
puzzle under pressure of a time limit, and you'll have some idea of what this
entails.

 Obstacles appear at higher levels as well. Chess pieces materialize in the
room; they pick up and drop tiles randomly within it. At some levels, the room
is divided into a series of islands linked by narrow rows of moving blocks that
dissolve (with unpleasant consequences) as you approach the time limit. In other
levels, the tiles you're walking on randomly dissolve beneath you. And finally,
in some of the virtually impossible rooms, if you step on the wrong tile, you're
transported into an entirely new room before you finish the puzzle! Aaargh!!

 There is no save feature in the game, and you're not allowed to select which
room you want to play; you can only start at a higher level when you've received
a password (after finishing the first bunch of games). This procedure is in
keeping with Psygnosis' attitude toward game-saves, but considering the
incredible challenge of even the early levels, I wish some other design choices
had been made this time. There's no benefit in having to play the early puzzles
over and over again each time you start up just to get to the later ones. And
even with the password, you're still a long way from the re-start once you've
reached the upper levels of the game. You have to play each puzzle frequently
enough as it is in order to complete it; going through it again to get to the
next puzzle every time is just too much.

 The game comes on one copy-protected disk that can be left write-protected
during play. Psygnosis includes a virus warning in the manual, but any disk
damaged by something other than a virus can be returned for free replacement at
any time. NEVERMIND requires 512K of RAM and a joystick to play; it runs on
A500, A1000, and A2000 machines and is not hard-disk installable. If you only
have 512K of RAM, it's recommended that you turn off peripherals (such as
external floppy drives and hard disks) before booting up.

 Despite the incredible difficulty levels, the absence of a save option, and the
copy-protected disk, this is a must-have. NEVERMIND is a completely original
puzzle-arcade game -- like nothing else you've ever played -- and it's a real
visual feast. The opening soundtrack and graphics are spectacular, the puzzles
are various, challenging, original, and beautiful, and in-game sound (although
limited) is always crisp and realistic.

 ATARI ST VERSION NOTES

 The Atari ST version of NEVERMIND is more or less identical to the Amiga
version described above. The 3-D surfaces are colorful and detailed, with a
chessboard-like thickness. The animations are smooth, but their generally
languid pace -- with the exception of the clock -- gives the illusion that you
have things under control, which of course is not the case.

 If you boot the game and leave it unattended for a few moments, the
demonstration mode will solve the first five puzzles, although by the time the
fifth screen comes up, you're going to wish you'd been born in a galaxy
populated by beings who don't invent games like this one. NEVERMIND starts out
difficult, rapidly becomes more difficult, and just as rapidly becomes
outrageously difficult.

 The ST version comes with two disks whose copy protection is far less severe
than the usual Psygnosis scheme, and an instruction manual.

 NEVERMIND looks great on the ST, and it's easy to learn. The password feature
is insignificant, and without a save option you're going to be playing the same
screens over and over: This is a game that's almost too difficult. Still, since
NEVERMIND _is_ unique -- in both concept and execution -- you shouldn't avoid it
just because of the difficulty. But you ought to playtest it before you buy, if
possible.

 NEVERMIND is published and distributed by Psygnosis, Ltd.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253