Budget Day - Lap of the Gods (ZX Spectrum)

If there's one highly-rated budget game that I just didn't get on with, it's One Man and His Droid.  For some reason I couldn't get into it... I couldn't figure it out at all.  My highest score was something pathetic like 5, I think.  So you can imagine my disappointment when I loaded up Lap of the Gods and it turned out to be some kind of pseudo-sequel.

It was something of a relief, therefore, to find out that Lap of the Gods is a much simpler game to play.

The story, it has to be said, is pretty crazy.  You are trapped in a comet's time vortex, and only the Eight Gods of Zzarn can return you to the future... but you must deliver them the Eight Crystals of Zzarn.  Trapped in a comet's time vortex... is that even possible?

You're the green thing, about to be harassed by the blue Egyptian things.

Naturally, it's easier said than done.  You must transport three effigies to a special chamber.  If you can do this, then the Gods will bestow special powers upon you.  Only with these powers can you gain access to further chambers and therefore more crystals.

If that was all there is to it, you'd still be on Easy Street.  Unfortunately, the chambers are patrolled by Devil Incarnations... if they touch you three times, they'll take one of your prcious effigies.  This displeases the Gods, to the extent that they will remove one of your magic powers.  The rotters!

Success! The three effigies are in place. Amazing powers will now be yours!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Lap of the Gods.  Although it's technically a fetch-and-carry game, and a frustrating one for the first few plays, it gets better and more enjoyable the more you play.  And once you get to grips with it and it starts to open up, it gets its claws into you.

Lap of the Gods would have been a great way to spend two quid back in the day, and it's a pretty good example of its genre.  This was a good pick for today's feature.