Product: I SPY RED
Publisher: The Ice Man
Compatibility: BBC B, B+, Master 128 & Acorn Electron
Reviewed by: Dave E
Originally published in EUG #46

Recently I asked if The Ice Man had written any other adventures besides Insomnia? Well I have recently discovered that The Ice Man is actually a psudeonym of Mr Ian Hudson and at the same time acquired another fantastic Quilled adventure called I Spy Red bearing his signature.

I was initially disturbed loading this game by a huge Mode 1 screen showing a strangely proportioned face and the message "Can You Find This Man?" It doesn't seem to 'fit' at all with the beautifully detailed locations and Russian atmosphere of this three-part adventure. I mean, how can you find a man shown in a picture depiction in an adventure text description?

This aside, Hudson's I Spy Red is a fantastic adventure, although it obviously suffers from the same parser limitations as Insomnia. This one comes second in the Hudson line and it's apparent that he actually wrote both the adventures to be Electron compatible even though they have not until now been mentioned in Electron-related circles.

It's hard therefore not to compare the two. I Spy Red is bigger and certainly not as easy to walk through, Insomnia is much smaller and more humorous. I can't yet complete I Spy Red to give a full report into the number of locations and objects but there are many; all well described and pertinent. It's a compliment to any adventurer's collection and an extremely professional Public Domain title. More please!