Sword of Saros (cassette)

How to play Sword of Saros online

• Move your adventurer: arrow keys
• Open the magic menu: Space bar
• Pick an item in the menu: arrow keys, then Space to use it (choose RETURN to close the menu without using anything)
• Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)

Gameplay

Each of the dungeon’s seven levels is a maze with eight rooms. The rooms hold treasures guarded by monsters: some are magic items, but most are gold. Room exits are hidden in the corners, so you have to guess where they are and walk through the wall. In one room on each level there are doors that need keys. Behind one of them is the next piece of the sword, which teleports you down to the next level. On the last level every door is open, and only one leads out. The monsters there leave you alone as long as you can pay them 100 gold for each door you try.

The wizard and his giant tracker bat roam the maze looking for you. You leave an invisible trail behind you, and if the wizard crosses it he follows you. If the bat finds your trail, the wizard teleports to that spot. When he catches you, he hits you and sends waves of skeletons down the screen; you have to get past them to reach him at the top, after which he vanishes and starts hunting again. You begin with 25 life points, lose some every time a monster or skeleton touches you, and the adventure ends at zero. At the end you get a ranking, and the best is Wizard.

The deeper you go, the less you see. The first two levels show the whole maze, levels three and four reveal it only as you explore, and after that you can see only the area right around you.

Magic items

You start with one of each item and can carry up to nine of each. Most spells last about ten seconds, and casting a new one cancels the one still running.

• Lamp: shows the whole maze
• Potion: restores a few life points (never above 25)
• Cross: drives the wizard and the bat as far from you as possible
• Scroll: shows the wizard and the bat even outside the visible part of the maze
• Ring: makes you invisible to the wizard, the bat and the room monsters
• Gems: once you have nine, using them gives you more of the other items
• Keys and gold are used automatically

Tips

• Collect gold early. You need at least 100 for every door you try on the final level, and there is no way to know which door is right.
• Don’t hoard keys. Spare keys disappear each time you move down a level.
• Heal before you drop low. A flashing green warning appears in the maze when you fall below 10 life points; drink a potion before it comes to that.

History

Sword of Saros was one of the last Supercharger releases. Together with Survival Island, it was offered only through mail order after Starpath went bankrupt, which makes the original tape one of the hardest Starpath games to find today.