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History has always loved an underdog. If they get beaten, everyone says that it was only to be expected. If by some chane they win, well, that's the stuff that legends are made of. David against Goliath, Hereward the Wake knocking the stuffing out of the Normans and Robin Hood outsmarting Prince John and his minions.

The town of Skara Brae is looking for a would-be hero. The final straw came when the town's militia suddenly disappeared leaving the evil Mangar even more in control. That was the night you started to plot with a few like-minded fellows.

Mangar the Dark had gained the upper hand when he had cast a spell of Eternal Winter over Skara Brae. The last people to enter the town before it froze over were his evil minions - creatures of the night and many and varied monsters. Quite what the Wizard's motives were, no-one was overly sure but now that the town was totally isolated, it was clear that something had to be done quickly.

You are sitting discussing these problems in the Adventurer's Guild - a place where budding heroes could swap tales and be sure of finding fellows to join them in assorted quests. It is here that the suggestion is made that you assemble a party of six characters with the object of discovering what Mangar is up to and, is possible, stopping him. The task is not going to be easy, for, despite all your bravado, none of you have any real experience to draw on.

Who to select to accompany you is your first problem. The choice is bewildering. Warriors, rogues and an assortment of spell casters. Dwarves, elves, gnomes or fellow humans or even a hybrid half-orc. Each have their own special skills and weaknesses and all are keen to come. Each character is assessed on five attributes - strength, intelligence, dexterity, constitution and luck. Other statistics include hit points (a measure of how much damage a body can take) and armour class (how well a body is protected). If you don't like the numbers generated, roll the dice again. High values in the prime requisite (e.g. strength for a fighter) and high hit points are recommended.

One character who has escaped mention so far is the Bard. A wandering minstrel who can inspire your party by singing one of his six songs. These range from driving you into a beserker rage when in combat (Falkentyne's Fury) to creating an anti-magic field round the party (Lucklaran).

The only problem is, all this singing does dry the throat and so he is in constant need of a tavern where he can quaff a tankard or six of foaming ale. The minstrel is also a reasonable fighter so it's a case of no holds "bard", every party should have one. After all, who else is going to sing about your great triumphs in years to come.

The first main obstacle to confront your party is a distinct lack of weapons and armour. This necessitates a quick trip to Garth's Shop. An old adventurer, he has a deal going with the local blacksmith whereby he has a constant supply of all the latest equipment a budding adventurer is likely to need. He will also identify unusual items that you have come across - for a fee, of course - and is willing to buy back unwanted goods, though for a fraction of their true worth. Again, a lot of thought must go into equipping your party. All your gold can be pooled in order to buy expensive armour and weapons but there is not enough to do this for everyone. Different types of armour affect your armour class, so that the more you are wearing, the harder it is to hit you. Shields and helmets offer added protection and there are always enchanted items to be found.

Exploring the town is both simple and difficult. Simple because there are only four controls to master - turn left or right, walk straight on or kick a door down! Difficult because it is very easy to get lost amongst the maze of little streets. The display is of a 3D map in the top left, the command box (all menu-driven) top right, and a statistical summary of your party at the bottom of the screen. Should you encounter someone, a picture of it/them replaces the map. There are several areas of the map that you cannot access - you must discover how and there are rumours of plenty of dungeons to be explored - if you can find them that is.

Magic plays an important part in the game. There are four types of spell caster - conjurer, magic user, wizard and sorceror although you can only become one of the latter two types when you are very experienced. Each class has its own collection of spells. These vary in power and become available as the mage becomes more experienced. Every magic user has a certain number of spell points and each spell cast depletes that total although points are regained with time. Some of the advanced spells include summoning monsters such as ogres and demons to serve the party.

One thing is certain, the streets and buildings are decidedly unsafe and danger lurks around every corner. Battle is frequent and casualties are to be expected. This is especially true for parties setting out for the first time and many early deaths can be very off-putting. To this end, a party of experienced characters is included on the disk to allow you to get a feel for the place. All characters exist in a roster in the Adventurers' Guild and you can pick and choose as you want.

In order to save you time, you can give a party a specific name and summon this group rather than start from scratch every time you play. Little touches like this are very helpful, especially when you consider how slow all the disk accessing is.

Apart from that, my only grumble with the game is that it does require a lot of perseverance at the start. New characters die just that little bit too easily and it is no easy matter to develop a party. That said though, The Bard's Tale is an excellent role-playing game and will keep you quiet for months. If you do manage to defeat Mangar, then there is the thoroughly enjoyable prospect of more games in the series to follow. Highly recommended.