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Firebird claim that the game is not a Gauntlet rip-off - so we'll have to believe them.

The aim of Druid is this: As the last Druid in the world, you must set about destroying four skulls which form a chain of evil around the land. Or something like that. To destroy a skull you must use the Chaos Spell, which is one of the many spells you must find in order to complete your quest.

Now, you remember that I mentioned that this game could have two players, who play at the same time. People seem to be treating this theory as revolutionary, but I myself remember games such as Bruce Lee and Spy Vs. Spy which did the same thing ages ago. So much for the new ideas.

The second player comes in the form of a Golem spell. This spell will create a huge monster, a Golem, which can be controlled by a second player.

This creature is used as protection for the Druid, as it kills ghosts, slime and demons with a single touch. This allows the Druid to save his energy.

But before you get too enthusiastic about the Golem, it's not indestructible. Every time it kills something it loses energy.

Do not fret, single joystick owners, as the Golem can also be controlled by player one using the Commodore key. Pressing this will select one of three commands which the Golem will carry out instantly.

These commands are Wait (obvious), Follow (even more obvious) and Send (send the Golem in the Direction the Druid is facing).

They layout is a general Gauntlet style maze, but it has chests which the Druid must open and choose a spell from.

These spells include more Druid weaponry, in the shape of Fire, Water and Electricity spells, keys - you must take the key from the first chest to be able to do level two. If you can manage to get all the way through the first level, that is.

Once a level has been cleared of all its chests and skulls you must make for the exit and get to the next dungeon/maze.

The first screen is a little boring, it is a sort of forest, but the levels inside are much more like the arcade classic. On his quest, the Druid will be attacked by a horde of creatures, including demons, slime, ghosts, skeletons and wraiths (which look like Druids, only black).

He must choose his weapon, gather strength and fight to the death.

Unfortunately, not all weapons are that effective on different creatures. Fire kills beetles with one blast, but you must use three shots to kill a Demon.

Now onto important things, like control. The Druid is controlled by joystick, with eight directional movement and fire button-activated weapons.

The Golem is very difficult to control in a one player game, so you may not see his real use until you have a friend round. Walking up and down the maze is fine, but the doors are sometimes a bit tricky to get into.

The Druid has energy, which must be topped up to keep him alive. I don't think you get enough energy, although Firebird's Tom Watson argues that the amount is just right.

When the Druid gets attacked, his energy will deplete rapidly. To recharge with magical power you must stand on a holy pentacle which will spin and recharge you.

When you reach a skull, you may be presented with a problem. To kill it you must use a chaos spell, but you have to be standing next to the nasty thing. The problem is the skull has incredibly bad breath which kills a Druid after about 50 sniffs.

What do you do? Try this. Use the Golem as a shield, and walk up to the skull's mouth. When you get there, step aside and get next to it. The skull will be distracted by the Golem giving you time to cast a chaos spell and dispose of it.

When you have died, or completed the game (Ha!) you will be presented with a rating, a bit like Elite. The lowest is Halfwit, which speaks for itself. Moving up, you get Apprentice, Acolyte, Seer (my best so far), Sprite Master and so forth until you reach the ultimate title, C&VG reviewer!, otherwise known as Light Master.

The graphics are not stunning, but they do look good in a strange Gauntlet sort of way. The sound is quite good with a nice noise when the Druid walks, and a lovely lightning sound when you cast a chaos spell. But the music at the start is a bit on the naff side.

I say Druid is great, and those of you who like Gauntlet can have real fun without putting pounds into the arcade machines. Me, I'll wait for the official Gauntlet.