Oil Imperium

In these days of saving the planet, the '80s aspiration of being a Ferrari drivin', hard smokin', Texas oil tycoon just doesn't feature in the dreams of the young. Sure, at $100 a barrel, the cash remains as attractive as ever but it's not the most sensitive occupation when it comes to the opposite sex, especially if compared to saving polar bears.

In real life though, the hi-jinx of the oil men is far from dull. Take J Howard Marshall, who married bombshell Anna Nicole Smith at the tender age of 89. Or George W Bush. No, really, please take him.

Oil Imperium sees you play the part of one of these hard-nosed moguls. You have access to dozens of areas throughout the world where you can start drilling, and a big part of the game is managing your expansion without blowing your top or wad. After all, before you start making any money on an oil well, you actually have to dig the thing, and even after that it's a while before the green rolls in.

All this action happens on a turn basis. At the start of each level, you're given a financial run-down of your exploits in the form of what looks like a bank statement. The rest of the game is relayed in a similar sort of vein. It's all a bit, well, businesslike. The number of sandbox-styled titles shows money-making exploits can convert well into games, but the better ones are usually delivered with a bit more lightness and fun than Oil Imperium has to offer.

This stuffiness isn't helped much by the visuals, either. You'll spend most of your time cycling between a relatively small number of screens, all of which have the officious air of a profit and loss menu. This is partly down to the fact that Oil Imperium (or Black Gold as it is also known) was originally released way back in 1989 on the Amiga and Commodore 64. This version remains fairly true to the look of the original, which gives you some idea of what to expect.

And although the game is a classic in the eyes of some, it certainly didn't rank as one of history's better known titles, which makes its mobile reworking in such a unchanged state rather baffling.

Still, Oil Imperium has the potential to be satisfying if you're prepared to put some time into it, as the financial mechanics are reasonably sound and there are plenty of areas to expand into. It's not a particularly attractive package for newcomers, however, given that you're more or less dropped into the action.

As such, until you work out the dynamics of the game for yourself, the experience is more than tinged with bewilderment. Faced with a series of bland screens and a huge list of regions and stats, you'll probably have no clue as to what is going on, unless you've played the game before in a previous incarnation.

'Classic' game conversions obviously work best when the source is either instantly recognisable or instantly fun. Unfortunately, Oil Imperium is neither. There will doubtless be some people whose eyes will have gone a little misty at the mere mention of the title, but for the rest of us, Oil Imperium forces the player to dig a little too deep and for a little too long to be able to deliver the elusive gameplay black gold.