I like to think that the Moontorc in question is a necklace made of moonbeams that have been wrung from the moon like soapy water from a dishcloth. (Why? Ed) Well, cos it's sort of grittily poetic. Unfortunately, the Moontorc in question is simply an amulet of magical and mysterious properties. Actually, I suppose it could be made out of galactic particles, it doesn't say that it isn't.
    Moontorc, the game rather than the thing, is a flip-screen shoot-'em-up. There are four levels to roam through and they're of the weirdly colourful sort. You're a little chap and you've got to rescue the truly wondress Princess Lalena from the blistered hands of the truly smelly Dark Lord. Cos you're such a nice guy you're obviously not used to being nasty. So you're going to need a bit of help.
    The idea is to collect gold and keys and parts of the Moontorc so you can progress and say hi to your babe. Along the way there are plenty of shops to pop into and do the odd bit of purchasing. You won't actually be able to get very far in to the game without paying a visit to one of these shops as they sell everything you're likely to need along the way. There are spells to blast the baddies away with, weapons to do something pretty similar and keys to open doors that let you into other parts of the game. Oh, and you can pick up parts of the Moontorc. Once you've managed to survive long enough to collect a complete Moontorc you can go onto the next level.
    

BLIM! The moon is, in fact, a natural satellite. Unlike most satellites it is not made of metal, it actually has a major iron deficiency. That's why it hasn't got any of those funny aluminium spiky things sticking out of it.

Mushroom Man
The graphics are very Dizzy-like; there are multicoloured mushrooms to jump around on, plenty of little platforms and nicely detailed shops. Best of all, when you kill someone loads of little hearts replace the dead bloke. I thought it was dead sweet, but sweetness doth not an excellent game make, as my Uncle Johnny who used to be a pop star once said.
    The plot's fine and the graphics are beaut - so why isn't the best game in the universe? Well, your little chap isn't very well animated, and he's not very good at moving. Just when you think you're about to land in a stream of molten acid, you step off a mushroom into mid-air. Then, when it's patently obvious that the space between you and the ledge is small enough for a mole to jump, you land in the acid stream and... poom!
    If you hate flip-screeners then this is obviously not the game for you. It's easy to see why they're so hated. Jumping off a platform and finding yourself face to face with a two-headed green monster from hell isn't perhaps the best way to enjoy a game. Still, it's a nice enough gamette and one that should keep you occupied in that annoying space between the end of Neighbours and dinner time.
    
Many thanks to Andrew West for typing this up

Ratings given by other magazines

8/10      8/10

Info supplied by the SPOT*ON database