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Sitting astride a large, evil-smelling, scaly dragon can be pretty uncomfortable over a prolonged period of time, so there's got to be a good enough reason to do it, don't you think? So what is it?

Well, young king Kayus has succeeded to the throne of the Agamen Empire at the ripe old age of fifteen. As always, the bad guys are just around the corner and, dissatisfied with the new king, they have conspired to break the seal of confinement around Zambaquous, the King of Darkness, in order to use his black power to seize the throne.

As evil slowly creeps back into the land, the ground begins to rot and the air is filled with a nasty residue and only you, young king Kayus, and your trusty dragon Bahamoot, can do anything about it.

Mount up then and be prepared for some sizzling air-to-air combat action and some stunning graphics in the struggle for power.

As you start the game, your dragon will be coloured green but, by shooting and collecting the special powerup icons, you can beef up Bahamoot's power as well as the bolts from your trusty crossbow.

Each coloured collectable corresponds to a certain power, For example, red will give you flames, blue will enable you to throw lightning bolts, silver will chuck out horning dragons when you fire and gold will add scales to your fighting power.

Pick up three icons of the same colour in a row and your firepower with the respective armoury is at its highest. Pick up a different coloured icon and your firepower will change.

To help you out just a touch more against your formidable and weirdly shaped opponents, if you reach the highest scale of gold, you can coil your dragon's tail about yourself for extra protection. But only for a limited amount of time. Be warned.

As you proceed, you will need to dismount from time to time, to collect more icons and getting back on will take some practice. So, don't get off unless you have to.

On top of all that, there is also a time limit, within which you must finish each of the six gruelling levels on the way to Zambaquous' lair.

Take heed, you will need to pay very careful attention to this clock if you want to survive. Just beating through the opposition is hard enough, so don't hang around too long on the platforms while Bahamoot hangs idle in the air.

Dragon Breed is an excellent arcade adventure with more than enough going on to keep you interested and, with the added bonus of the dragon's tail as an extra weapon, skillful play should bring good results.

That tail does take some getting used to though and, just when you want it to coil around your head to ward off the latest, vicious assault, you're just as likely to see it waving off behind you in the distance. Ho hum, practice makes perfect, or so they say.