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When I opened Moebius, I liked what I saw. There were two disks, a reference sheet and a free oriental headband! Some blurb on the box told me that the game was a combination of both an adventure and an arcade, with a healthy dose of fantasy role-playing thrown in.

I eagerly got involved and found out that you play the part of the newest disciple under instruction from Moebius, the Windwalker. He tells you that the Orb of Celestial Harmony has been stolen by the forces of evil and this has caused turmoil on the planet. Earthquakes, droughts and other natural disasters are now commonplace. It is your job to get it back and set the world to rights.

However, before you go off merrily Bruce Lee-ing through the countryside, you have to prove yourself ina ll the three styles of combat: swordfighting, barehands and the mental prowess of Divination.

The training mode is very easy indeed. Even an incompetent like me got through it without much trouble.

I liked the choice of keys available for these tests, they made it that much easier to control your character's actions. You can select up to nine speeds in training combat mode, one being freeze frame speed, nine being real life.

At any one time you can train up to as many as three characters, one after each other. These "extras" are very helpful in your progression through training.

Once over the training hurdle, you then set off on your mission. This is where the adventure/fantasy role-playing comes into it. You have to search around an island for the orb and this involves going through jungle and other vegetable-covered terrain.

You meet various folk, from goody-goodies who will either help you or follow you, to rebel palace guards who will confront you and attack without hesitation. I found this to be one of the low points of the game.

You see, in certain places the guards turn up in abundance and it takes so long to actually jump from the adventure screen to the combat screen, you are left waiting about twiddling your thumbs for ages.

Even for the Commodore, the jump is very slow indeed.

Once you get into combat with the guards, you have to fight them barehanded - until you obtain a weapon - whilst they wield swords. I found them easy to defeat.

All you had to do was keep kicking and punching low and they collapse. It got quite repetitive and my enthusiasm was waining.

For each guard you defeat you may get an item you can use, be it a torch or a hammer plus some experience points. These points enable you to get better at skills such as listening out for your opponents. These skills are measured in levels and the higher you get, the better your skills are.

The game continues on this basis as you plough through the levels of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, defeating ninjas, guards and other random encounters alike until you recover the orb.

The game has lots of other gimmicks including the abilities to cast spells (two systems), read magic maps, throw shurikens and encounter wild animals.

When I finished playing this game for the last time, I examined the blurb on the box once again. It claims 50-100 hours of playing time. I can believe it. The only trouble is that you are going to spend half of it hanging about waiting for something to happen when you should be in combat! Moebius is worth a look - if you can afford it.