** Shareware/1 page/540 words **
** Handle as review page **

Zebuland

Shiuming Lai unwittingly performs cerebral gymnastics on his day off...

I am pleased to see the active development of Atari software in The Czech Republic, particularly since the quality of new releases is usually of a high standard and offers good value for money too. JAY Software's titles are reminiscent of the classic German ST programs, so even though Zebuland is a game, it is wrapped in a GEM shell and won't run in anything less than ST-high resolution. 
Let's not start with any pretensions - this is no hardware-scrolling, tracker-music-stomping, psychedelic palette-switching technical tour de force. Instead, the authors have concentrated on that crucial element known as playability.
Inspired by the popular KE-Soft games on the Atari 8-bit computers (which are still going strong!), Zebuland is a conversion of one such game which, in turn, is loosely based upon Sokoban. For the uninitiated, this is a puzzle game where a number of blocks have to be pushed around by the player's character, to cover up an equal number of marked spots in the play area. This is done against a time limit and ideally in as few moves as possible. The challenge comes from the maze-like organisation of the play area, so some blocks can only be pushed from certain sides, and more often than not in some kind of order.
Zebuland borrows most heavily from the maze aspect of Sokoban but the objective is slightly different, in that the player must guide the character to an exit point on each level. Some additional obstacles in the form of gaps, broken ground and rotating blocks must be negotiated to reach the destination. A whole new dimension is introduced by these few features - there are many ingenious level designs, requiring players' mental dexterity to match.
Certain levels have more than one character to play with, so it is necessary to switch between them and make them work cooperatively to complete the level. Control is by keyboard, joystick, mouse or Jaguar Powerpad ("Hurrah!" I hear Xav cry). All in all, engrossing stuff and definitely not one to start playing if you need to be somewhere in a hurry.
The unregistered version restricts playing beyond level 15 - a key code system is used to unlock the later ones and the registration fee also rewards users with a nice level editor. Hopefully, if sufficient registrations are received, the authors will go ahead with their plans for a Falcon-enhanced update.

** Product box **
Product name: Zebuland v1.02
Publisher: JAY Software
Contact:
Jan Krupka, Trnkova 26, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
Telephone: +068/5419108.
Email: krupkaj@risc.upol.cz
URL: http://www.inf.upol.cz/~krupkaj/jay/
Registration: £10.00
Requires: Any Atari or compatible, 512Kb memory, 640x400 resolution (ST high) or higher
Pros: Absorbing, completely sampled sound effects
Cons: Graphics too small (albeit necessarily)
Graphics: 80%
Sound: 85%
Gameplay: 92%
Overall: 86%
** End of boxout **

** Images and captions **
** NO_WORK.GIF **
The ability to run as an accessory makes Zebuland inconducive to productivity even for non-multitaskers...
** EDITOR.GIF **
The editor also handles Sokoban-style levels - the possibilities are endless!

** GUIDE_1.GIF **
** GUIDE_2.GIF **
** GUIDE_3.GIF **
** GUIDE_4.GIF **
A simple guide to the first level. Own up then, who else still plays silly games with the revolving doors at big department stores?