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Hurrah for cucumber sandwiches and ginger beer! It's Julian, Dick, and Anne, George and Timmy the dog, better known to millions as the Famous Five - in their first adventure. Hurrah again! Now could someone please get Timmy off my leg?

Having been brought up on a diet of The Secret Seven and The Famous Five, books and on T.V., I was absolutely delighted to see this role playing game arriving on the Ikea telephone table that Steve and I share as a desk. It takes a long time to load this game, as it is only available on tape, but, for most, it's probably worth the wait.

Five On A Treasure Island represents the first ever adventure that the famous five had as a team. The game starts out with Julian, Dick and Anne sitting on a tram on the way to the seaside village of Kirrin where their Uncle Quentin, Aunt Fanny and Cousin Georgina live. Good old Fanny (What!) will meet you at the station and the plot thickens from there on. Many questions need to be answered, why is Uncle Quentin so moody, why does Georgina, (henceforth known as George), want to be a boy, why does she keep scowling at Dick and what is so Mysterious about Kirrin Island.

Your opening character is Julian, the eldest, and allegedly the most sensible, but you can interchange between the main four characters, (though not Timmy, I was disappointed to note). The game-play is very interactive, consisting of a typed conversation between you and your Spectrum, which controls what happens. The computer recognises thirteen special commands, 33 accepted verbs, and a wide range of sentence structures. It also recognises words abbreviated to the first four letters, which considerably speeds things up. Be warned though - this control method can prove cumbersome at times! There are also valuable save options available.

The characters can interact with any others they meet and can pick up, use, examine, or abuse almost any object which they stumble upon, in other words the scope for frolics, fun and exploration is almost unlimited. Graphics are restricted to colourful views of significant places, eg the cottage, island etc., otherwise the screen is all dialogue. The size of this game cannot be underestimated so don't expect to finish it in a mere one or two sittings unless you're name happens to be Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes.

Five On A Treasure island is a logical step in the continuing popularity of these famous adventure tales. It won't suit everyone because it doesn't have dragons or ninjas, and even Timmy the dog doesn't even bite people or attack their wellies, however, for those who want a challenging change or anyone who has read or is reading the books, it's just the business. Hurrah again chaps and let's go to Fanny's for a slap-up feed!

Label: Enigma Variations Memory: 48K/128K Price: £10.99 Tape, £n/a Disk Reviewer: Alan Dykes

Golly gosh, get the pimple cream out again Dick. Although a little slow, this game's faithful to all the Famous Five books giving hours of innocent enjoyment and problem solving.