Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Tecmo, Inc
Publisher: U.S. Gold Ltd

Its tiles, baddies, and player character are all re-drawn due to the ST's 16 colors and different-than-arcade resolution-- but they are an incredibly faithful adaptation! Even the torn-away cement in stage 2's background wall is present. Fans of the original release will undoubtedly be pleased with the graphics in this port.

The atmospheric "Mozart-meets-Dracula" song is wonderfully re-created via the ST's PSG. What's more, the sound effects are all present as well! The musc does cut out during some effects due to the ST's PSG only having four channels, but the developer did an above-average job of minimizing the overlap.

Unfortunately, this ST port unravels when it comes to the gameplay. First, it plays way too fast, dialing the challenge up to eleven. Second, movements just feel too imprecise with an Atari-style joystick. What's more, the threshold for placing blocks adjacent, or two-away, doesn't feel quite right. The arcade stages are all faithfully replicated however, so the patient will find the experience intact at least.

Solomon's Key is a sort of B-tier 80s arcade game in the first place, so even if this ST port were perfect, it's a somewhat low ceiling. Even so, such a good job was done with this version's graphics and sound, that it's a shame it doesn't have the controls precision of other home renditions, like the NES adaptation.