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In Kourtyard you play King Arthur as he tries to regain his royal treasures, including Excalibur, which have been stolen.

The game consists of four screens, one stolen item hidden on each. When this object has been found you progress onto a bonus level, and then on to the next screen.

You move about within a 7 x 7 section of a 64 x 64 playing area. When you reach the edge of the display, it is smoothly scrolled. Here lies one of the main problems of the game. Only half a sprite cell is displayed between you and the edge of the screen when it is scrolled, thus you get no warning of what you're about to walk into. I frequently found myself bumping into nasties before I could do anything about it.

You constantly encounter soliders who must be dealt with by means of your only weapon, a bow and arrow. Initially you have 75 arrows, but you soon find this is not enough, and luckily they can be replenished by picking up extra quivers.

An editor is supplied with the game. This allows you to design screens, but does not let you change the graphics. In fact, to get any graphics at all you must load in one of the pre-designed screens and then draw over the top of the maps.

When I first played Kourtyard, I was not impressed. The first screen seemed very mundane, with nothing much to do apart from walk and fire, and very little sound to liven things up. It improves on later screens, however, with the introduction of more interesting objects. Pleasant to play, but nothing new.

Gavin Gillings