3,000 years ago some fabulous jewels were created by master craftsmen in the old city of Babylon. They came into English hands in the 19th century, but were lost to pirates who left all but one of the crew of the boat that was carrying them for dead. This is where the adventure begins, for you are the one who survived and have vowed to reclaim the jewels.

So it is that you find yourself on a bright pink ship off some remote island. Yes, it's bright pink, and no amount of fiddling with the TV will make it go the colour you thought 19th century ships were supposed to have been. The island itself is a place of golden sand and clear blue skies, just the place to spend a holiday - except for the cannibals!

The graphics are more or less instant and are among the best I have seen on a Spectrum. The text allows full-sentence input, although in most cases you have to get the wording just right.

Jewels Of Babylon is said to have over 100 locations, although most of them are maze rooms, making pen and paper a must for this adventure. So is a "save" tape, for there is plenty of wildlife about and a spider might just happen to drop from the trees onto your shoulder, or a water snaker give you the once over as you battle your way across a swamp. Most of the time, such encounters are just for fun, but there is always the chance that the spider will sink its fangs into your neck!

Most of the puzzles seem to be the "find your way around" or "get past something" type and, although they all seem to have logical answers, it's getting the right words in the right order that's the real trick. That made playing Babylon a little on the difficult side at times, but still a very interesting adventure with lots of action.