Game:

Repton 3 (1986)

Duration: 6:40

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1

I move on to the first three levels of another set. This set can be found in the 8-Bit Software public domain screens as "Osmi"; but Andrew Weston's Repton Continuum (http://aw.drobe.co.uk/REPTON/) includes a group labelled the "Mystery author" levels, which includes this set under the name "Rosmi". Other than the tiny difference in name, the files seem to be identical.

I have chosen this set to record because, like "Pain" and "Agony", it contains some excellent levels of a similar standard to those in the published games; however, this set is not so well organised, with some of the harder and more interesting levels coming right at the beginning.

The first thing one notices about this set is that the designer has made full use of the Repton 3 editor's ability to vary the colour scheme, with mixed results. Of the three levels in this video, the colour schemes for Screens A and C are not bad, as they do at least stick with a dark colour for the walls and light colours for the diamonds and monsters; however, I find that cyan or green for the diamond colour can get wearing on the eyes after a time. Screen B makes even more drastic changes, actually reversing the dark and light colours, and to be honest I find this screen quite unpleasant to look at.

As for the actual levels: Screen A is challenging from the outset, with a spirit that must be released carefully to send it into the correct cage; a monster that can be awkward if it comes over the rock (though it can still be killed with a rock near the timebomb) and fungus that will block a second egg if the first part is not done in a hurry. The four spirits circling the wall are very tricky to get past to unblock the rock needed to divert them. (Incidentally, in contrast to the "Agony" set, this set can only be played on the updated game engine, since on the original Repton 3 game engine one of these spirits will start off dazed. In this video I am playing the levels in Repton Thru Time.) Finally, at the end of the level we have to wait for the fungus to kill a monster released earlier.

Screen B has some tricky transporters, a nice little rock puzzle to reach the key, and a central puzzle consisting of a skull maze patrolled by spirits. It can be tempting to take shortcuts through the maze, but this must be done with care to avoid stranding any spirits. (Fortunately, this is not as hard as it sounds, since entering the skull maze opens up the section below to the spirits, keeping a couple of them out of mischief for a while.) Again, fungus elsewhere on the level restricts how long you can afford to take.

Screen C has a demanding time limit, and the second time capsule is blocked by five cages that must be opened sequentially; this requires going back and forth to release each spirit with no delay as shown, and taking a detour to retrieve the first time capsule at just the right time. Both monsters are tricky, and one diamond will be blocked by fungus unless it is retrieved early. Then the central room involves a very clever spirit puzzle, with precise timing required when taking one of the transporters.

The music for this video is "The Future" by Leonard Cohen.

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