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Sinbad is the newest Amiga release in the Cinemaware range, from the people who brought you Defender Of The Crown.

The game was not programmed by exactly the same people though, and it's easy to see. But, enough of this. Here's the plot.

One day the Princess Sylphani, a very pretty young lady, was about to give her father his early morning call, when she discovered something strange.

The Caliph had been transformed by some no-good, evil, son of a [OK OK we get the message - Ed] into a falcon. And as the people would not be ruled by a feathered king, things looked bleak.

Sinbad was summoned by the Princess to see if he could shed some light on this unfortunate state of affairs. After much consideration, Sinbad takes the Princess and her brother on a voyage seeking the answer to this riddle.

Sinbad first visits The Shaman, a very wise, god-like man who is about the only person skilled in the art of turning falcons into people. Very handy.

He says that to release Caliph, Sinbad must collect three eyes from three sisters, and the wing of a demon.

Not being the things you find in the local supermarket, this is going to be tough!

Sinbad can ask various people questions, and by collating information together, he can try to understand the Shaman's needs.

You find out the locations of the sisters by questioning the Caliph's ex-wife, Libitina. She has knowledge of the black arts, and can help you.

Libitina is also very evil. She will try and seduce you, and although you will enjoy it, it pays to be careful. But, having said that, you'll miss some wonderful graphic sequences!!!!

Buy using pull down menus, as used in intuition, you can easily move Sinbad throughout this magical world of witches and genies. A joystick is also required for the action sequences!

Sword fighting is the best, and it just goes to show what the Amiga can do. As you slash your opponent across the ribs, you get a realistic cry of pain, and blood flies everywhere. Great stuff!

The rest of the game is mostly text, but is well written and often amusing. I particularly liked the big about cages made of whole trees!

While travelling about, you have the option of viewing three screens. These are:

The World - A map of Sinbad's world, which you analyse with a magnifying glass - a nice touch - to find your way about.

The City - This screen shows the hour glass, which displays the time limit, and also the amount of jewels collected.

Each screen must be used at some point, and you must also govern the Caliph's forces in defending Damaron. This adds to the strategy.

When you travel about the oceans, you may come across a shipwreck, another action screen. This entails you steering around rocks, and picking up survivors, who shout 'Thanks' in a muffled digitised voice.

If you hit a rock, the game is over, and so begins the tale of Sinbad's underwater adventures...

Still, it's worth croaking once, just to see death standing by the cinema curtains, scythe in hand.

Also, there are random features in the game, such as the ROC. This mythical creature will snatch crew members for its dinner quite unexpectedly.

With all these things against you, what do you have going for you. Well, there's Genie. When found, he will help you, but you only get the customary three wishes.

So far this all sounds impressive, but what about graphics and sound. Well, the graphics are not up to the usual Amiga standard, but they are quite colourful. At certain points in the game, it gets really blocky, and I don't understand this at all. The lowest resolution is 320 x 200, which is the high-res on the C64, so why the chunks?

The sound, however, is totally different. A fantastic 'Arabian Knights' soundtrack fits the game perfectly, and the sound effects are fab too. I particularly liked the music when you get seduced; real heavy.

So, the pics are pretty, the sound is amazing, and the control is easy as pie, but that doesn't make a good game. Playability is there, but the game is a bit easy.

I finished the game after five or six goes, and got to live happily ever after with the Princess. It turns out that it was Libitina who assaulted the Caliph's appearance, but I knew it all along.

Not bad, although not as good as Defender Of The Crown.

Oh, yes Mindscape quote the word 'Adult entertainment' more than once in the instructions. As this cannot apply to Sinbad, does this mean we'll be seeing X-cert Cinemaware products. We live in hope...