Theatre Europe is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by Personal Software Services. It was first released in the United Kingdom for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Atari 8-bit home computers in 1985. It was later released in France by ERE Informatique in 1986, and was released in the United States by Datasoft later that year. It was also ported to the Tatung Einstein home computer in 1989, exclusively in the United Kingdom. It is the fifth instalment of the Strategic Wargames series.
The game is set during a fictional war in Europe between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, in which both sides use nuclear and chemical weapons against each other. The main objective of the game is to fight conventional battles in continental Europe, whilst trying to avoid a worldwide nuclear holocaust. Throughout the game, various capital cities and their civilian populations will be destroyed by nuclear weapons; the game will only end once either side is forced to surrender or if the entire population
Eight invaded townships must be brought back under your control in this Commando-style shoot 'em up, which progresses vertically using a flick-screen system. You are armed with a rifle (activated by a short tap of the fire button) and five grenades (used via a longer press), and must not only kill off the enemy forces, but also rescue your comrades who have been tied to trees along the way. You begin at the bottom of the first screen and slowly make your way upwards; enemies pop up from all sides, walking around and shooting, and you have to dodge their shots while trying to shoot them yourself. The foes make good use of the decoy opportunities of the terrain, and you must do the same to have a chance. The levels include rivers with narrow bridges, potholes, and train-lines.
Extra supplies are dropped in as you progress through the game, as are extra lives in addition to your starting 5
The West is out of control and a new sheriff is in town. As you wander through the dusty streets of this cowboy town keeping law in order, you are encountered by many characters ranging from gunslingers to the ladies.
You must use your conversation skills to get through each character and if that's unsuccessful, you may have to use your quick draw skills and lay the law down.
The game is presented in a isometric format and is set on board a haunted galleon named the Blackwyche. Sir Arthur Pendragon's main objective is to free the soul of its former captain, Richard Cavendish. Pendragon can utilise various weapons such as knives, daggers and a magic sword to defend himself from enemy skeletons. The player begins the game with full energy and it will slightly deplete every time the player is hit by an enemy. If Pendragon completely runs out of energy, a large skeletal hand will drag the player off-screen, thus killing him.
Various segments of maps are scattered around the galleon, which will form a complete view of the game's overworld once all the segments are picked up. Other scattered items in the game include keys for locked doors, gunpowder to fire cannons and pieces of jewellery, the latter having no additional use other than adding to the player's score.
In part two of the "Boulder Dash" series, game design hasn't changed compared to part one, so you still have to mine diamonds while avoiding falling rocks and cave monsters of all sorts. As in part one, later levels become more difficult because many puzzle elements are added.
Riddler's Den is similar to Ultimate's games such as SabreWulf or Atic Atac, twinning maze with puzzle-solving elements - and it also includes some RPG elements.
Regarding the story, Trunkie, the Manlephant, has entered the Riddler's Den to complete the 1st part of his quest by finding the Golden Tusk and ultimately meet the Great Golden God Gregogo.
To be successful in these tasks, Trunkie will have to decipher how to take advantage from the many objects he'll find in the way.