The Opener Sequences Assure You You're Getting A Graphics Fest!

The first thing you notice about this game is that it is a huge program and fills three DFS DS 80T discs. The second is that it works on B, B+, Master 128 and Acorn Electron. On !BOOTing disc #1, you are presented with playing instructions in the form of a readable/printable manual - I would recommend printing it if possible as it helps to be able to refer to a hardcopy when first attempting the game. The manual is concise and informative and will help you make your way through the world you are about to enter.

Actually, yet greater an insight can be gained through reading the Sunday Novella, a book also written by the game's author. Although this isn't vital, the game follows directly on from the last chapter and you may find your journey through the game is easier after having acquired a greater understanding of the characters and their mutual interaction. It is not an essential prerequisite though, as you will discover...

Describing Sunday as a game does not do it the justice it so rightly deserves. On playing it, it is more of an experience than a conventional game. Its loader allows you to change the text-response time (Recommended after several games) and whether to play an uncensored version. Doing this is far more entertaining.

As with all games, you will discover that Sunday knows what you need to do to win. Finding out is where the fun comes into it.

The experience begins on June 13th 1992 and the adventure contains ten different characters, complete with their own personalities and characteristics, although one of its beauties is that you will not necessarily meet them all in a single game. Once you "finish" it, it can be played over with more interaction with these previously unseen characters.

On leaving the instructions you are presented with a very nicely presented and detailed Mode 4 loading screen, accompanied by a passable rendition of Axel F. After it has finished, or you have pressed ESCAPE, the screen will clear and yet another extremely detailed Mode 4 graphic will be displayed providing details regarding the remainder of the actions/keys used to play, together with mug shots of the characters you may interact with in the game. Not sure that I'd like to run into or meet anyone looking like Suzzie in a well lit alley, let alone a dark one, but I digress...

You are also treated to an extremely good rendition of Enola Gay by OMD - a nice post-apocalyptic anthem; so if you want to find out if this is a portent of things to come, play on. You will not be disappointed.

The Command Mode Can Be Used To Provoke Some 'Interesting' Situations

There's Also A Running Homage To DALLAS With This Dream Sequence

Anyone Remember The Halifax CardCash Account Advertisement? It's In Here Too!

You control the central character - the Jamie - and we first meet him confronting his friend Carl in Zero G, a local hostelry. To say that the Jamie is a forthright and outspoken character would be a drastic understatement. The Mode 4 graphics have a very professional feel to them and, while they lack an arcade 'punch', make up for it in occasional graphical manoeuvres which must be seen to be believed. The graphics all load smoothly and swiftly, and the code behind this is a credit to the programmer.

How the Jamie fares from now on in his efforts to re-engage his relationship with young Miss Roberts is entirely up to you. You must carry on conversations, rather unconventionally, with one response from an ensemble. There's also a "Command Mode", described in the manual, allowing the more regular commands you associate with text adventures - and a few more 'interesting' ones to boot. Scoring too is unconventional and very dependant on the Jamie's (your) interaction with others and the responses chosen.

As you progress through this game, you will, according to how well you interact in this extremely unpredictable world, be asked to enter successive discs that comprise the game. So far I have mastered enough of it to have been asked for each disc in turn before 'dying'. I have also managed to better the default high score of 1,500 (Up to 2,300) but there is far more to be achieved.

Unfortunately, Sunday's playability is crippled in comparison to products like The Hobbit because each game must be started from the very beginning. This does allow you to meet new characters but does not let you pause and save your experiences to mull over and adapt for future or continued games. However, because no game of Sunday is ever the same, it scores highly in other respects.

As noted earlier, this gaming experience is aided by having a printed version of the manual to hand. Although it is not so complicated as to cause referral to it every few minutes, it helps 'nudge' your own interaction and become more in tune with the way the Jamie thinks. As it is something comparatively new to play, this game will appeal to a broad spectrum (No pun intended) of Beeb enthusiasts. It is not like a shoot-em-up requiring repeat play to gain the winning strategy yet it does inspire you to play again and again to get under the Jamie's 'skin' and achieve the overall objective for the game: Miss Roberts.

The game was written back in 1993 and, as such, quite after the 8bit heyday of the Beeb. But even now in the 21st century, it is both engaging and addictive whilst being a refreshing experience from the run-of-the-mill games churned out by software companies.

To be able to save a game at any juncture would be a desirable bonus as having to start again and again, however interesting and different each time, does not allow you to continue on a course of action you have started and are thus far pleased with, only to have to turn off due to interaction and issues in the real world.

For this reason, I would give this 8/10. Graphics are a straight 10, with playability hot on their heels. Sunday is a worthy successor to the Acornsoft and Level 9 adventure games with extremely 'graphic' graphics to surpass their appeal. Recommended.