for each absorbed unit of energy. A level is won by absorbing the Sentinel off its platform, creating a new Synthoid in the place of the Sentinel, transferring the consciousness to it and hyperspacing to a new level. Progress is saved via a password system. The more energy the player has accumulated when he jumps into hyperspace, the more levels he will skip. Sometimes (depending on the individual skill of the player) it is necessary to replay a level in order to win it with less energy than the last time, because the difficulty of the levels is not incremental. Development The Sentinel has no ending sequence; upon completion of the last level, the player is looped back to level 1. When questioned about this, Crammond said he never thought anyone would go so far as to finish the game. Reception Computer Gaming World called the Commodore 64 version of The Sentinel "outstanding and addictive ... I highly recommend it for many absorbing hours". It received a Gold Medal award by Zzap!64 magazine, describing it as an exceptional piece of software in a class of its own, and refusing to give it a numbered rating as a result. The ZX Spectrum version received a CRASH Smash award, the magazine praising its originality, atmosphere and tension. It was also placed at number 7 in the Your Sinclair official top 100. It was also voted Best Original Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards. The Amiga version was ranked the 20th best game of all time by Amiga Power; one of the 50 best computer games ever by PC Format, who called it "straight out of left field" and "inspired"; and the 53rd best game of all time by Next Generation, who cited the "Absolute, paranoid, scrambling tension" experienced by the players as they try to avoid the sentinel's gaze. Legacy A preview of a nonexistent sequel called Monolith appeared in 1995 in Italian magazine The Games Machine as an April Fool's Day prank. In 1998, the real sequel called Sentinel Returns was released for Windows and PlayStation. In December 2020, a freeware game named Monolith, based on that hoax, actually came out and was reviewed in issue 1/86 of Zzap! published by the Airons association in Vigevano. Archipelagos (1989) has different gameplay but a similar surreal environment. A number of unofficial remakes and variants of The Sentinel have been