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Restaurateur Victor Kapp is found murdered in his luxury apartment, the day after his wife is released from an institution. His wife Laura is found in a delirious state, a gun close by. And only the day before, she had been to see me, and asked for a consultation.

I, of course, am Perry Mason, the world-famous criminal lawyer. I now have to clear my client in the ensuing court case. Luckily, I have the help of Della Street, my legal assistant, and Paul Drake, a top-notch private eye.

So I head for the scene of the crime, and spot some useful evidence that the DA's men have missed. I sneak them into my pocket, unnoticed by the antagonistic Holcomb. Being a thorough sort, I not only examine the toilet for clues, I flush it, and get the reply "Water flushes counter-clockwise, as it does with all toilets in the northern hemisphere!"

A visit to the prison, where Laura Kapp is held pending trial, is not very rewarding. Heavily sedated, Laura is somewhat incoherent, and has only vague memories of her visit to Victor's apartment that night.

Meanwhile, Paul has been working hard on my behalf, and comes up with some useful details, back at the office. There is certainly no shortage of suspects. Could the murderer have been one of the six on the guestlist for the apartments that night? Could it have been Victor's business partner, or the self-opinionated restaurant critic who gave his food a personal rating of one? Or perhaps the attractive French cook, who seems to have been spending a lot of time with him during his wife's absence?

Time to go to court, and this is the real test. First, the expert witnesses are introduced; the police chief who conducted the investigation, ballistics expert, and medic. Then come the personal friends and associates of the deceased.

It is the trial that forms the main part of this unusual game. I hesitate to use the word 'adventure' for, although the game is very definitely in the 'adventure' format, it is not the type where you move from place to place at will, solving many different problems. There is no point in drawing a map, but note-taking is essential. The objective is to get an acquittal, and, hopefully, discover the true identity of the murderer.

Thus the game takes a very narrative form, and much of the time you are gently "guided" where to go next. This does not spoil things. In fact, at the trial you will certainly need your wits about you, not only to ask the right questions as each witness is presented, but also to raise objections when the D.A. is asking questions he shouldn't.

This brings us to the packaging. The disks come in the usual lavishly illustrated Telarium double-openings flat folder, complete with lawyer's handbook.

This contains a playing guide, details of cross-examination procedures, restaurant reviews from "Epicure Today", and even a student-lawyer's examination paper. It is a pity that these are all re-printed in the same pamphlet; separate "genuine" documents of the Infocom style would have enhanced the authenticity of the package.

The vocabulary used at the trial is as complex as you are likely to find in an 'interactive fiction', and it is not a question of using two or perhaps three words. Questions like: "Burns, how many guests visited Victor on Friday night?" must be asked.

To guide you in the syntax of these sentences, there is a comprehensive vocabulary list, plus a guide which indicates, in different columns, the sequence in which you can enter each class of word. Unfortunately, the sentences used are so long that, on some occasions, there is an extraordinarily long delay in response.

This manifests itself as an ominous silence, before even the disk starts whirring, indicating that the computer is first chewing over what you have just said. I suppose that is inevitable in a game of this complexity, and, if a little trying at times, is far more tolerable than in a conventional adventure where action is the keyword. Here, you need time to thing, and the atmosphere of the courtroom comes over extremely well.

This is a graphics game, but the pictures change fairly infrequently. There are thin wide-screen views of the apartment rooms, and top to bottom close-ups of each witness as he or she is being cross-examined.

Throughout the trial, you can call on Paul to work away before the scenes to gather last-minute information and evidence, whilst Della is on hard to advise you on how to tackle each particular witness.

So how am I making out as a lawyer? So far I have managed to get my client convicted twice! Although I have a couple of very strong suspicions as to whodunnit, I have a horrible feeling that I have only begun to scratch the surface of the case.

Perry Mason comes on two double-sided disks, and is a thoroughly entertaining program, coming as it does, with incidental music to heighten the atmosphere and drama.