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The Alchemist is not just another boring adventure game that takes hours of typing and frustration, it is a truly excellent arcade-type graphic adventure, similar in style to Hunchback.

The 48K program loaded first time, taking about five minutes. There's a SCREEN$ and once loaded, you are greeted with quite a catchy tune, very well matched to the program which is set in the distant past. There's a menu with a good selection of keyboard or joystick options - a joystick certainly makes the game easier to master but using the keyboard is not so bad. There's a wide range of key combinations available and it is quite easy to work out a pattern than suits you.

After making your selection, off you go! The idea of thegame is to find four pieces of the 'Spell of Destruction', find the Evil Warlock and cast the spell. You are the Alchemist, with a bit of magic of your own and you are on this great mission to destroy the Warlock. The storyline sounds familiar but the program is well written. Of course, it isn't an easy game: there are sixteen rooms, which sounds disappointingly few, but each room takes up two screens and there's plenty to go at. As you move through a room, the background scrolls effectively and on going through a doorway the screen changes to put you in another room.

As the Alchemist, you are a very stately figure on the screen. One of your tricks is the ability to transform yourself into an eagle (at the press of a button). This is done well in graphics and as an eagle you can fly to areas the Alchemist could never reach in human form. Learning to fly takes practice but you flap your wings nicely and automatically lower landing gear when necessary!

You have a permanent on-screen record of your vital statistics, namely Spell energy and Stamina, along with a record of which object and/or spell you are carrying. You also have an hour glass and a space ready to deposit any of the parts of the 'Spell of Destruction' you have found. The hour glass tells you how much time you have left in a room before the Warlock locates you and starts sapping at your stamina. This is very dangerous and, unless you evacuate the room quickly, will probably be fatal!

You have to keep up your strength by eating food which is scattered around. Spell energy is constantly replenished but is used up every time you cast a spell. Spells and other useful objects are scattered about the lair but are invariably guarded by nasties such as ghosties, skulls or other strange creatures. Combat is almost inevitable, and this saps at your strength.

The game is well thought out and needs dexterity as well as brain power. Although I completed the adventure within three hours, I still find it very enjoyable indeed. The colour and graphcs are excellent, particularly because the objects are large and easy to identify. Sound is not used a great deal, but is effective.

Any complaints? Only two. The first is that it is far too easy to accidentally abort the game by pressing "1" in the excitement; the second is that there is no 'hold' feature. I expect this would make the game a bit too easy.

If you're after an adventure that you have a fair chance of completing, without being bored in the slightest when you have managed to do it then this is the adventure for you. Priced at £5.50 it's value for money, and certainly a great deal of fun to play.