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I opened the sprayed-gold cassette box and it promptly fell apart. After that, things got better.

The Alchemist is you, bub, and you've got to penetrate the inner defences of (yawn) the Evil Warlock, which are terrible and labyrinthine and guarded by the usual crew of plug-uglies.

So far, so normal. What makes Alchemist refreshingly different and huge fun to play is the all-graphic side to this particular adventure: in a way it reminds me of ColecoVision's Smurfs, except that here the playfield scrolls both ways *and* up and down. Steer the doddering old fool (the Alchemist) along the levels, transform him into an eagle for the levitational bits (a minor masterpiece, this routine, which never failed to bring a surge of satisfaction) and blast the marauding entities with lightning bolts, or a Lesser Spell (if you've found one), or - though I never got this far and can't imagine the effect - the Great Spell, which comes your way once you've found all four missing pieces of the Scroll etc, etc.

While the plot is yet another version of an old, old theme, the graphics really bring the Alchemist alive. Me? I kept getting bumped off for lack of Stamina (sort of Survival Points) - but with a little practice I'm going to get further and further into this maze. Animation and scrolling are superbly smooth, colours rich and imaginative, and the general feel one of 100 per cent machine code slickness. A neat conception, beautifully carried through.