Gobliins 2

Gobliiins should have been one of the best games of 1992. However, hysterical animation, charming sounds and varied, entertaining puzzles couldn't overcome the difficulty level. It wasn't that the puzzles were so difficult, but it was a trial-and-error style of game, in which every error had devastating effects on the characters' joint lifeline. In the end, entertainment became secondary to frustration, and the game got stuck in too many closets. Luckily, games are the flip side of movies in that, quite often, sequels are better than the original; the removal of the lifeline and the addition of multiroom puzzles has certainly made this true with Gobliins 2 (yes, it's two "i's" this time).

King Angoulafre is back from Gobliiins with a new problem: The demon Amoniak has kidnapped his son and turned the young prince into a drooling, insane jester. Two sucker recruits are found in Fingus, an overly cautious, baby-faced goblin, and Winkle, whose personality seems the natural internalization of his pointed, gaudy features. Together, they must solve seven worlds full of puzzles to recover the crown prince.

Gobliins 2 uses the same point-and-click interface found in its predecessor. Simply select a goblin and an object and let the game's animation take over. Most often, the result will be a goblin screaming in pain or just staring at the object with a stupid expression on his face. Occasionally, they'll do something useful, like get the object or solve the major puz-zles for that stage.

Again, like its predecessor, Gobliins Zs actions can be divided into two overlapping categories: trial and discovery, and application of said knowledge. Luckily, Gobliins 2 does not have the damage meter that limited even the discovery portion of Gobliiins. Gobliins 2 also has unlimited objects, so anyone who misses the cockroach the first time it scuttles across the palace floor will find plenty more waiting behind it.

Most of the tasks involve getting the goblins to obscure corners of the screen. This often requires complicated timing and precise positioning on "unnamed" objects, such as giant shells.

Later in the game, timing becomes increasingly important as the goblins are required to act in tandem.This requires some mouse dexterity, but, again, nothing too unreasonable. And, for the truly lost, Gobliins 2 provides "jokers" to offer help. Judicious use of the save/load functions will guarantee an infinite supply of helpful hints.

When Coktel decided to focus on only two goblins, it lost some of the logic of Goblii-ins. In the first game, one goblin was a strong man who liked to bash things, one was a tin-kerer and one was a mage who was dependable for hysterical effects, if nothing else. Winkle and Fingus are simply too much alike. True, Fingus is more diplomatic and more likely to refuse an order, but Winkle isn't always cooperative either. Yet, the same action from each of them will often produce different effects. For example, in World 4, Fingus turning on a lamp will herald in a lamp-fish, while Winkle summons a moray eel. Experimentation and discovery provide part of the joy in Gobliins 2, but puzzles need logic as well.

Is Gobliins 2 as brilliant and as charming as its predecessor? No. But it retains plenty of Gob-liiins' attributes, in addition to providing the playability to make it a game definitely worth looking into.