Ulysses & the Golden Fleece is a Hi-Res adventure game that rivals The Wizard and The Princess in overall concept. Your mission is to find and return the Golden Fleece to the King, thereby gaining a kingdom of your own, plus 300 bags of gold and the designation, "Level 2 Adventurer." This mission is frought with dangers and obstacles before you can ride home with all your riches atop Pegasus.

The game is better-conceived than its immediate predecessors; it is also much harder to solve, in part due to a disturbing lack of recognition of many words, synonymous with text patterns, which the computer will accept. The game also suffers from several bugs and logical shortcomings (e.g., range errors, fireproof wine, inconsistency when reentering rooms where an event or puzzle has previously occurred). The 15 save-game capability on a scratch disk is great; scenarios may be made or called in at any time as long as you are alive - just don't get killed ! (Hint: Save the game upon first encountering a major puzzle or obstacle, then restore the saved version at that position after three or four unsuccessful attempts to solve that puzzle; also, don't bypass the Isle of the Sirens, even though it is possible to do so.)

There are almost 150 locations to be mapped, including many near-mazes in jungles, oceans, and forests. The majority of these are cleverly constructed to lead you to the next "correct" location. Ulysses and the Golden Fleece is long and difficult but generally maintains one's interest, provided one doesn't get disgusted with the re-booting requirement after being killed and a limited vocabulary.

Overall rating : B Difficulty:B+Originality:B
Puzzle quality :BEase of use: BDocumentation:C
Text quality:BVocabulary:CHolds interest ?:C
Graphics quality :ASave/restore:CValue for money:C