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It's the oldest story in the Book, or one of them at any rate. Young man wants to marry princess. The King doesn't like him and so sends him on a quest. And, like all good stories, it begins "once upon a time"... so once upon a time there was this jester called Jack, entertainer to King Maxim of Allegoria.

Jack has his work cut out, because the people of Allegoria are well cheesed off. The problem, it seems, is that their lamps have been nicked. Why can't they make do with a candle like everyone else? Well, these weren't just any old lamps you see, they were magic. Ever since their disappearance a plague of evil beasties has stalked the land and people have, on the whole, been fairly miserable. Can't say I blame them.

Local folklore, if you believe in that sort of thing, has it that the lamps were whisked away by dragons, though what they want with them is anyone's guess. Apparently the blank lamp is absolutely bursting with magic and it is this one, or rather the lack of it, that's responsible for all the trouble.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Jack is doing a midday matinee and two evening performances in an effort to keep everyone's spirits up. But the truth is even Jack feels wretched because he has the hots for princess Grizelda. Naturally the King won't let him marry her on account of his not being a prince, not being rick, and being ugly and stupid. So the Cunning King takes Jack to one side and says "You can keep your ugly hands of my daughter... unless you fancy trying to get the lamps back from the dragons".

The King thinks he's pretty smart, and he's right. Jack will probably be killed and that will be the end of the problem, But, if he succeeds, the lamps will be returned and, having your daughter married to an ugly git is a small price to pay for happiness. Jack is not stupid though, because the first thing he does is go and see his old mate, the king's sorcerer, Pratweezle. In return for a few beers Partweezle conjures up two spells for Jack; one makes his belt buckle fire bolts of pure magic and the other gives him six lives - an absolute necessity for anyone about to star in a computer game.

So Jack sets out to slay dragons and collect lamps, and this is where you take over. The first thing that really strikes you about Black Lamp is the music, it really is brilliant, much more sophisticated than anything I've ever heard on the C64. The graphics are quite impressive too.

The opening screen, which is different almost every time you play, is one of the locations in and around Allegoria. Usually it's an interior scene, and as well as bare walls you will see stairs, a ladder or two, some furniture and the odd ledge. Oh, and some chests. The chests have spaces for each of the nine lamps you must collect, and you must get all of the lamps, including the black one, back into them.

Some lamps are easy to come by, they're just left lying around. Others, particularly the black ones, are guarded by dragons which you must kill. So it's necessary to do a little exploring. There are two ways out of most interior scenes, to the front and back of the screen. Exits at the back are depicted as doors and those at the front are indicated by a marker at the bottom of the screen.

To leave by a door, all you have to do is face it and push forward on the joystick. Similarly you can exit forwards by facing the marker and pulling back. You will then find yourself either in another room or outside. Interiors are usually made up of one screen only, the outside being a much bigger place, scrolls as Jack walks to the left or right. So Jack travels around Allegoria by going left and right and 'in' and 'out' of the screen.

All this would be nice and peaceful, what with the Robin Hood medieval muzak, wandering in and out of rooms, up and down streets, through forests and meadows, were it not for the horde of evil beasties that chase you everywhere. Everything that moves is out to get you. From the relatively harmless dragonflies, wasps, vampire bats and werewolves to the relatively wicked slayers and imps, not to mention the crows, buzzards, goblins, witches and trolls that come somewhere in between.

Each creature has its own way of taking a toll on your energy. Crows drop thistledowns on your nut, goblins do it with fireballs, arrows or spears, witches gob on you, then it's back to fire from the trolls and slayers. That only leaves the dragons who - surprise, surprise - breathe fireballs, and very accurate they are too.

When you're not too busy getting out of the way of the beasties, or giving them a taste of belt buckle magic, you can go lamp hunting. Eventually, if you look hard enough you will find a fire-breathing dragon. Drown the dragon in a torrent of magic bolts and, sooner or later, it turns black and expires. The lamp is now yours for the taking, and you can then hot foot it to the nearest chest and deposit your prize. Do this nine times and you're there.

There are one or two things you can do to increase your chances of survival beyond three minutes. Collecting shields makes you invincible for a while, musical instruments increase your bounce factor and swords send your belt buckle into machine gun mode. Without taking advantage of these little bonuses you don't have a hope. One good way of spotting them is by pressing the pause button which makes all the sprites flash.

It's hard to explain exactly what it is I like so much about Black Lamp. Although the storyline is different and good fun the game itself isn't that original. Nevertheless it is a very professionally produced, and has a lot of polish. In terms of design, it's faultless and the idea has been implemented very skilfully, maybe something to do with it being an ST conversion. Whatever the reason, it's a winner and deserves to do well.