LadyStar - Volume 1: Reflections In A Dream Preview Developer: Heavy Cat Multimedia, Ltd. Release Date: Premier Episode Released Platform: Genre: Anime Style Adventure By Harriet Gurganus November 2001

Story Overview of Reflections In A Dream:

"LadyStar™ follows the adventures of Jessica Hoshi, a happy and slightly scatter-brained 14 year old girl, and her friends. She lives with her mother and father in a small town called Tree Shores on the banks of a lake. The game begins with Jessica's first day at her new high school."

Jessica is fortunate and she makes many new friends quickly. They seem to remind her of something familiar but she does not know why. Jessica is a gifted saxophone player and all of her new pals are members of the school's marching band. Jessica is also offered a spot in the school's Jazz Band. So far, Jessica sounds like many other young and talented people. But soon things will change.

Jessica's new friends are: Talitha, a very shy and intelligent girl who plays the bells in the drum section of the band; Shannon, one year older than Jessica, who is the band's squad leader; Ranko who has flaming red hair and the ability to get everyone into trouble; Leila, very quiet and mysterious; Alanna, the Drum Major of the band who is very warm and a natural leader; and Cecilia, an elementary school girl who plays in the band with the older girls.

When Jessica begins her first band rehearsal she starts to have bad dreams about solitary and desolate places with red tumultuous skies, frigid winds, and a canyon with dark shapes that she can not identify. She also hears what she thinks is a child crying. Later, strange and frightening things begin to happen in Jessica's life. She begins seeing a white bird in the trees around the school but can not get close enough to see it clearly. When the dreams cause Jessica to reach a peak of apprehension she tells Talitha about her dilemma and finds that the other girls are having similar dreams. That is, all of them except Cecilia. Cecilia feels left out and wants very much to have dreams of her own but can not. All of the girls know that something very frightening and enigmatic is happening and they continue to prepare for their next nightmare to occur.

The first volume of LadyStar: Reflections In A Dream™ will consist of approximately 10-12 episodes.

Product Description:

LadyStar ™ is being billed as a magical and mysterious iStory Adventure. The development group at Heavy Cat Multimedia has explained that an iStory ™ is short for an "interactive story" and it is the name that they use to represent their line of adventure games. "The game will feature new and original characters, quality 3D graphics and an epic storyline based on the popular mahou shoujo or magical girl genre of Japanese animation, or anime. The iStory game engine features a point-and-click interface and inventory system and allows the game to be played on any PC platform with a standard web browser, such as Mozilla, Internet Explorer 5 or later or Netscape version 6 or later.

All of the episodes of the first Lady Star ™ volume are shareware and you may download them for free as they become available. New episodes will be released on a regular basis. Complete information on how to install and play each game segment is included in the download files. There is also a detailed "Frequently Asked Questions" site at Heavy Cat. It contains information regarding costs for future game volumes, how to order the LadyStar ™ CD-ROM, how to pay for the game, and many other important details.

Further information about LadyStar ™ may be obtained from info@heavycat.com , www.heavycat.com or www.ladystar.net.