  
Gems of Stradus follows the usual adventure format: overcome the hazards and find the treasure using the objects which you find lying around while in your travels. This is a graphic adventure but since it is set in a maze all the pictures, which fill a quarter of the screen, look remarkably similar and are really only useful for spotting exits. The hazards, creatures and objects that you discover are all illustrated and are the best part of the graphics. Moving is at first very confusing because the cursor keys are used in a forward, back, left and right system — which results in rapid disorientation followed by frustration at getting lost so easily. If you can master the movement, though, the adventure should be not insurmountably difficult to solve and therefore quite fun to play. If you do get stuck the Help facility gives clues that are as subtle as a brick! More descriptive text would have improved the atmosphere and I would say that, unless you are really desparate for an adventure, I'd give this one a miss. A maze is pretty boring compared to enchanted castles, sinister space ships and deserted mines. Greg Pearson, PopularComputingWeekly
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