In the red corner... the undisputed heavyweight sword fighting champion of all Egypt. That's you, and it's that same sorry tale of daft royalty and heroic commoner. They get kidnapped and you have to risk everything to save them. But what else can one expect when you're a "Fighting Warrior"?

That's the plot out of the way, now it's down to some pretty intense violence. Mr F Warrior, your man, has to walk along a horizontally scrolling landscape killing monsters and guards in a bid to rescue his queen. He has a sword and a little bit of skill to help him on his way; the rest is up to you.

All he has to do is use three fighting sword strokes and few defensive parries to see off demons and devils. The most immediate need is surviving long enough to reach the next bottle of life-giving elixir, though. He needs it because with such a limited number of sword strokes he's bound to get hurt in every encounter. The monsters vary, but not much, and they're all vicious and potentially deadly.

The outline graphics show the age of this re-release. Combine this clue with the antiquated gameplay - where seven moves are enough to justify the game - and you know this is something of a curiosity. There's an attempt at parallax scrolling, but little else. It's just walk, fight, kill and die.

It's easy to be killed and hard to stay alive, and this mix, while knife-edge stuff occasionally, is a flawed basis for a game.

There's no room for the development of skills that will help you overpower the opposition, where by following a learning curve you get further in to the game. This is patently not the case and Fighting Warrior quickly becomes Dying Warrior as the game stagnates. Set in the world of ancient Egypt, it's more of a relic than an archaeological treasure.

Not enough fighting moves. Slow and boring. Crushingly dull. That about covers it, I think.

Outline sprites are clear in any colour.

Stay awake.

Graphics 41% N. Dated main characters. P. Reasonable background scrolling.

Sonics 54% P. Authentic Egyptian music.

Grab Factor 66% P. Killing is hard word but simply understood.

Staying Power 31% N. Too few fighting moves. N. Very repetitive.

Overall 42% Tired old warrior looking for a new home.

Trenton Webb