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The skull and crossbones provide a very apt warning to the start of Flint's Gold, an adventure of treasure and piracy on the high seas. Be prepared for the skull and crossbones could soon be your fate!

Oh what a pretty pipehorn you think to yourself as the music begins to play as the program for flint's gold is loading. The music, which has a certain air of 'Captain Pugwash' about it, plays throughout the whole of the loading sequence with the exception of a break in the middle for a short burst of impressive sea shore sound effects.

Then follows a short scenario describing the story behind the game which tells of your previous life as a farm worker whose mundane existence is lightened by the chance of an adventure on the high seas. You hear of the legendary Flint's Gold and of the map that will lead you to its place of burial. You begin the adventure on land (you don't actually spend much of the adventure at sea anyway), ferreting out clues until finally the whole jigsaw comes together.

On your search for the legendary "Flint's Gold" you follow stories and tales that you have heard which lead you to the land of bloodthirsty pirates on the Spanish Main. Danger is ever present, but can be avoided with a little forethought.

Surprise graphics and unexpected sound effects spring out at every turn, stunning you for a few moments into temporary paralysis. (Indeed you cannot move until the graphical or sound sequence has finished.)

Flint's Gold is a highly exciting adventure game for the BBC by Micrograph. It takes quite a while to master it, but the puzzles are original and prove taxing. The Flint's Gold adventure seems to have been loosely inspired by the story of Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson and a few of the characters in the adventure are taken out of the book. Long John Silver plays a very large part in finding the location of the treasure and Benn Gunn pops up at least once, but although he may have lost his incredible fixation for cheese he is still obviously a fan of the diary produce. Captain Flint is a nasty piece of work in this adventure and his spirit is out to get you.

The program is very conversational and the replies are punctuated with "Aye, aye, matey" and "OK, Jim lad" and all the usual piratical 'bumpf' that you find on the high seas. Anything that springs to mind at the merest mention of pirates has been included in this fantasy adventure, parrots, rum, wooden legs and crocodiles, to name but a few. "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," is all very well but don't drink too much or you might regret it.

You start the adventure on land, in a street somewhere near the docks. As you wander up and down you come across sailors, taverns, shops and even some money. Your initial wanderings (as I found out much later on in the game) are liable to either win the game for you or lose it from the start.

An essential piece of equipment can be lost without warning at the beginning of the game, but that's all the clues you're going to get from me! As you continue your travels, you wll find a jetty with three ships tied up alongside. Which do you choose to board for it is certain that, although one will take you to promised lands of treasure, danger and adventures, a voyage on the others will lead to certain death. Who knows?

An excellent, or even "swashbuckling" adventure as the description says. I enjoyed every minute of it. Flint's Gold costs £6.95 on cassette and £9.95 on disc. Definitely worth buying. One last word, however, beware the crocodile, he looks wonderful charging across the screen but this is one character that you definitely don't want to meet.