Fantasy games generally do pretty well for themselves in the sprawling Metropolis that is Gaming City, but why? Well, nobody knows, quite frankly. Maybe, just maybe, it might have something to do with the fact that the average game playing adolescent is a bloodthirsty little savage, who takes great pride in the fact that with one swing of an axe, he can turn a rabid Orc into a pile of flob. Just maybe.

Of course, not everybody's happy with just blood 'n guts 'n violence 'n stuff. Oh no, they want some form of problem-solving thrown in along the way (as if it would make a difference) and because of these GITS, we get games like Heimall, Heimdall 2, Darkmere, and... er, oh yes this one here - Dragonstone.

So okay, the puzzle element does add to the game, but you can never have too much violence. Or can you? Well I'm afraid to say that, rather amazingly, this is Dragonstone's only problem. There are only about ten different type monsters in the entire game, all with the sole purpose in life of walking into you. This makes the game extremely frustrating, and a lot less enjoyable than it could have been had the enemies been given the slightest sliver of a brain. Cell.

The early levels are quite enjoyable, and while the tasks are pretty straight forward, the quest progresses at a steady rate. That is until level three, when the game moves into repetitive mode, and everything just goes downhill from there.

On the upside, the sound effects are pretty spunky, adding to the rapidly waning atmosphere, and the control system is made a whole lot easier with the joypad, as you no longer have to press the space bar every time you want to access the Action Menu/Inventory.

The CD version of Dragonstone is basically a straight port of the standard Amiga version with a few minor adjustments and, if it wasn't for a few irritating factors, would have been a great game. Shame that, eh?