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My phoenix moved closer to the opposing basilisk, burst into flames and crisped him beautifully before he could catch me in his deadly stare...

Archon is about the struggle between the opposing forces of light and darkness. The main confrontation takes place on a 9x9 grid; the squares checkered so that it resembles a chessboard. The object of the game is to occupy all five power points or destroy the enemy forces. Where Archon diverges considerably from board games such as chess is that, if you want a square occupied by your opponent, you are going to have to fight for it. This is here the arcade part comes in as play shifts to the combat arena.

The two sides start off with an equal balance of strength but with totally different pieces. The pieces are various mythological creatures, each depicted on-screen by their own specific icon. Thus whilst the forces of light can call on unicorns, valkyries, golems and the like, the powers of darkness are represented by such nasties as trolls, manticores and a dragon. All these creatures have their own movement abilities e.g. move three squares on the ground or fly five squares.

Your forces are controlled either by a wizard (light) or a sorceress. As well as being able to participate in combat as other pieces do, they also have the power of magic in the form of seven different spells at their disposal. These include the ability to imprison or revive a character or summon an elemental to battle with one of the opposing pieces. Obviously your image is far and away the most important character you possess and should be heavily protected.

Whilst you are making your moves and vying for position on the board, another variable you have to take into account is the light cycle. Some squares are always black or white but others change colour throughout the course of the game. This affects your strategy enormously as the forces of light perform better on lighter coloured squares and vice versa. One of the mage's spells is the ability to shift the direction of the luminosity cycle.

As mentioned earlier, if a square is contested, then the action shifts to the combat arena. Here there is no genteel taking turns to move. It is survival of the fittest.

There are three main types of attack. The goblins and knights wield weapons and so must be very near to their opponent. The phoenix and banshee create a circular area of damage around them and all the rest of the pieces fire missiles of one sort of another. Attacking does not depend on how quickly you can press the fire button - it takes time to prepare a lightning bolt. The computer rings a bell to let you know when you are ready to fire another salvo. All the pieces have differing combat abilities, e.g. a lightning bolt may do less damage than a fireball but does not take as long to prepare.

There are many barriers in the combat arena, all of which undergo their own luminosity cycles. This again affects combat ability. Your current strength is shown in the form of a bar at the end of the arena. When that reaches zero, that icon is dead and the survivor takes possession of the square.

The accompanying manual is very clear, explaining all the concepts thoroughly and giving ideas on strategy and tactics. There are also two pages of questions and answers which explore the finer points of the game. The game itself can be played either you against a friend or you losing to the computer! There is also an excellent demo mode, which I strongly recommend you watch a couple of times in order to get a feel for the game (the demo games are all different).

It is difficult to give any advice on tactics as each piece has its own and these change throughout the course of the game. Then, when you think you have mastered the forces of light, you switch sides and have to start all over again.

Archon was designed by a team of professional games designers rather than a team of programmers with an idea of programmers with an idea for a game and its shows. The whole package is superbly put together and I would recommend it to anybody without hesitation.