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The need to remember eight joystick positions, sometimes in concert with the Fire button, to control fifteen actions does not detract too much from the enjoyment of this game, for after a while there is no need to stop and cogitate, as the correct responses come more or less naturally.

What ruins the game for me is the fact that tumbling colossal boulders and free-falling rocks are stopped dead in their tracks whenever you fire your gun, thereby making the action very disjointed.

For starters the macabre atmosphere conjured up is spot-on. You guide the explorer (Indiana Jones?) through the Egyptian burial chamber (noting the four-way scrolling as you go). Scarab beetles and bats prowl around, overlaying creepy-crawly sounds to the grim music... shoot 'em! Bubbling pools of obnoxious lava will have you leaping... be careful! But don't bump your head; crawl where necessary, yet you are allowed to fall up to twice your height without coming to grief.

Down to business; you must collect five golden seals and place them in the template. When the last has been successfully placed, you are transported to a chamber containing the Sphinx; touch her forehead before the guards rob you, then receive the points. Overall, I feel ambivalent about this one. It is original and atmospheric but it certainly has its flaws.