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In the twelfth century, hidden away in a secret valley, men of the Deutscritter Order of Teutonic Knights settled affairs of honour by the sword. Neither man gave or expected quarter. The winner would be raised in rank from Greenhorn. The loser, on the other hand...

So runs the rather pretentious storyline to this two-player swordfight game. For all its pretentions, however, Sword Master is a unique game in which each player tries to gain the upper hand by deft movement of swordsman and blade. On receiving sufficient injury, the opposing knight gives up the ghost.

The storyline wiggles up the screen accompanied by an apt Teutonic tune before the instructions and controls are displayed and each player enters their name and skill level.

The graphics are simple, but smooth and nicely done.

The view of the battleground is limited to a tapering road running up the screen, flanked by foothills sloping upwards, a sun towards the top right and the two large players mid screen.

Control may be from the keyboard or a pair of joysticks, with the latter being considerably easier to use. The battle proper starts after these preliminaries and hits are registered by two 'scoreman' in the hills, whose swords move down a fraction at each wound. This is a nice touch, but it's a pity the previous position of the scoreman's sword is not removed. Towards the end of each game, they appear to be holding fans.

When one knight finally hands in his spurs, the winner is congratulated before moving up a step in the hierarchy for another fight. A scorecard is maintained, which may be saved and reloaded separately.

It is rather annoying to have to re-enter both name and rank of each contestant between fights, particularly since you can build up quite a dislike for your opponent and are only too anxious to issue an immediate return challenge.

This is one of the few two-player games that makes more than a token gesture towards truly interrelated action. The graphics are smooth, the characters large enough to be sensibly controlled, and the background, through fairly simple, is enough to set the scene.

All you really need is a second player who is prepared to compete with you, and according to the Order of the Teutons, he must not look at women (especially young ones), nor kiss his mother or sister.