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Bushido arrives at a time when the C64 is starved of software. Gone are the bad old days when companies - both reputable and rogue - were turning out games by the dozen, leading to the most bizarre variation in ratings ever seen. The recess in the C64 market has provided scope for individual games to stand up to scrutiny.

Bushido takes you back to a Sonyless Japan where warlords (Diamyo) battle for supremacy. Once such warrior has entrenched himself inside a huge fortress in order to escape assassination. All attacks on the fortress have so far failed, so a rival warlord has decided to penetrate it with a lone warrior.

You select the character you want to do this mission. A monk might be well versed in martial arts; but when it comes to stealt or handling a sword, he could end up doing more harm to himself than to others. On the other hand, a well-armed Samurai is more than a match for anyone. Other characters include Ninjas and various types of warriors and scholars, each one excelling in his own particular field.

Once you're inside the fortress the name of the game, quite simply is violence. Run into the fortress, do a bit of GBH, then try to find the clues and the equipment to get you through to the next level. Your antics make the game seem silly. When you search for objects, you have to scale walls unaided, which makes you look like Spiderman.

You've got quite a lot to collect - pieces of armour, weapons, coins, keys, even ingredients for magic potions. Most items serve a very useful purpose: a wand will open chest and will give you a clue as to how to find the entrance to the next level; armoured vests give you all-round protection.

If the unthinkable should happen and you're killed, you are thrown out of the fortress, minus all of the objects you collected. Instead of the standard forfeit of a life, you age by the number of months it took you to heal. The older and mankier your character gets the more time he has to spend in training rather than fighting, until finally, you're old and wizened.

What Bushido lacks in graphics and sound it makes up for in action and puzzleability. Especially, it's the riddles which help break the monotony on what might have been a tedious kill-'em-all game.

A fun offering from MicroProse, especially for the games player who doesn't like his games to be too intellectual.