Horror Castle is one of those few adventures that this reviewer finds compulsive enough to drag him away from Coronation Street!

Without wishing to be over-complimentary, I must say that, if Horror Castle is to be the new standard of Dragon adventures to be released by A&F then I for one will be very pleased.

The scenario is one of a beautiful princess trapped high in an evil-looking castle. It is your task, as the brave hero, to save her. I wonder if anyone is going to write an original scenario for saving princesses?

Well, princess-saving adventures appeal to me, so I set about my task in all haste. The usual verb-noun vocabulary is employed in this game (GET KNITE, etc). The first problem encountered is how to get into the grounds - a starter problem rather reminiscent of Scott Adams.

This is an apparently insoluble problem, but take some time and use some lateral thinking and you'll get in. Once there, a feast of delight awaits you!

You will find knives, ropes, lamps, etc. Well, you didn't expect an original light source in a castle game, did you?

At one stage, my knowledge of John Wayne and cowboys came in very useful. A mutant in the cellar is a ghoul who cannot be taken lightly as he is prone to kill you at the bar of an eyelid. Talking of bats leads me to the vampire whose favourite meal is you - the intrepid adventurer!

Do not think this game is without a sense of humour, for when I typed in HELP outside the second gate, I got the reply "You don't need my help to open a f@%#ing gate, do you?"

Although a score feature is absent, when or if you complete your mission you are told how many commands it took. Knowing you C&VG readers, you will probably complete the game in a lot less than my best score of 290!

Here is a game I can recommend to anyone with a Dragon 32. It gave me hours of pleasure and I'm sure it will do the same for you! Horror Castle is from A&F Software and costs £5.90.