From
TES issue 17 (September 2002)
Series 8.
Level 1.
FIREBALL ALLEY
Fireballs were
Lord Fear's favourite anti-
dungeoneer weapons in series 8, and his employment of them in Fireball Alley presented a challenge to most teams in the final series. The room had four arrow slits - grouped in two pairs - on the far wall, an exit on the right-hand wall, and the entrance towards the left-hand wall. Fireballs used to shoot out of the slits, which the team had to keep clear of their dungeoneer while guiding them across the room. The fireballs travelled in a sequence from left to right. This pattern allowed even the most dreary of teams to attempt the challenge successfully, particularly as there was a safe zone in the middle of the room where the dungeoneer could stand and wait if necessary while the advisors gathered their wits - a painfully short task for some, I might add.
I use as an example here the first team of the season, Richard III and his friends [
Team 1 of Series 8]. The gormless girls attempted this challenge with no trouble, even though previous scenes had proven them incapable of processing blatantly simple
scroll clues! To be fair to Fireball Alley, I like the challenge it presents even though it is quite easy, and it provides a welcome link to similar challenges of the early series of
Knightmare in the occasionally disappointing final run. It is also worth noting that the puzzle was reconfigured to present further challenges later in the series. Rebecca and team [
Team 5 of Series 8] were faced with super-fast fireballs blasting at them, which they had to put right with a
spell called
SPEED that
Smirkenorff had given them. And then Dunston and friends [
Team 6 of Series 8] had to use the reach wand to reveal a door in the wall next to the safe zone while simultaneously trying to outmanoeuvre the fireballs. This amenable development is of course moderated by the fact that the revealed door led into the Short Cut, but that's another story.
Difficulty: 3 The fireballs proved menacing enough.
Killer Instinct: 0 No hits, no score.
Gore Factor: 4 Because we know that fireballs can be very nasty.
Fairness: 8 A nice level one challenge of brainwork and footwork, somewhat unusual for the later series.
