Cold Dreams

Journey to the red planet of Swandah to prove your worth as a galactic knight. In the time-honored tradition of "Sword and Planet" tales, legends whisper of a cursed underground maze of caverns somewhere in the general area, defended by ancient monstrosities and concealing great mysteries. No one has ever been known to return from the planet, so how these stories came about is not at all clear; be that as it may, there's clearly a Quest here just calling for a dashing hero.

The red planet's underbelly is comprised of three game worlds (the shareware version contains only the first), each divided into stages. Progress generally involves moving through the rooms in the correct order and finding the right set of keys, while dodging a generous assortment of tricks and traps. The caves' weird inhabitants won't help matters either - fortunately, the player will have five different weapons to choose from, each especially suited for a particular type of enemy or obstacle. Power-ups such as life boosters, bombs and shields may be stored and used at will.

A special kind of power-up is the robot: a free-floating metallic companion that can be programmed to follow the player, to stay put, or to travel independently by remote control. The robot can be equipped with ammo of its own, and may gain access to otherwise unreachable areas - judicious usage will be required to solve some of the puzzles. A special training level is available to practice its use (along with other aspects of the game mechanics).