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To cut a long story short, the knight of the future is doing exactly what he did in the past: rescuing a damsel in distress. This distinctly male-chauvinist activity isn't taking place in castles and on horseback any more, but in deep space aboard a spaceship.

Your task is to get through the 20 levels of the ship to the planet surface and from there reach the castle where the damsel is imprisoned. In the time that takes you'll reckon the damsel will have got bored and made her own escape anyway. En route you're going to encounter some spectacular alien droids and a lot of hazards.

The graphics are the most noticeable part of the game and are very impressive indeed. The backgrounds consist of futuristic metallic panelling and the sprites of the droids that guard the ship are very large and colourful.

These droids are the main danger to you as you try to move through the ship. When they touch you they explode, draining your energy.

The droids come in several varieties and have different movement patterns. Some stick to defined patterns, moving horizontally or vertically; others home-in on you. One particularly large one slides menacingly but slowly towards you, but only along a horizontal path. If you run into him you lose energy massively.

There are other dangers such as pools of liquid and fixed gun emplacements that fire homing bullets at you. You can shoot droids with your three types of weapon. You can choose which to use only where a gun appears in a box on the back wall.

To get around the ship you can jump, climb up and down ladders, use slides or just fall down holes. The holes aren't recommended because if you let the knight fall too far you hit the ground and spend some time trying to shake the ringing noise out of your head.

To get through the ship you need to find the exits, some of them locked, that take you to the next level. On your way you'll find objects which may come in useful. For instance, there are bombs and confusers to help you out with the droids and several types of spell, key and pass to help you get through the levels.

The game certainly looks wonderful and has some excellent touches: the massive droids, the effect after a long fall, and the knight's impatience if you leave him standing around too long are great to watch. The title music is good too, quite atmospheric. The gameplay lets it down just a little because it involves mostly just running, jumping and climbing around. However, there are puzzles to solve by using the objects you find and they should provide the essential thinking element. Enjoyable but the gameplay falls just short of the mark.

Some of the most humorous touches have been incorporated into this game to make it a real gem. For example, if you leave the knight for a minute or two, he tries to attract your attention: a handshake, vigorous arm-waving, etc. If that weren't enough, Sir Future begins to turn in circles, eventually getting rather violent. I suppose it's one way of causing a stir.

The rest of the game is just as appealing. Some of the many detailed sprites are, to put it mildly, extremely large and even worse for your state of being. A game that has lots to look at, possibly falling down on the gameplay. Still, it is worthy of a second look.

Bold and beautiful!

5,000 points.

P. Big, bold, colourful graphics.
P. Entertaining features like stunned fall and impatience over inaction.
P. A lot to explore.
P. Many problems and obstacles to encounter.

N. Gameplay is mostly just exploring and shooting.
N. Jumping control can be awkward.