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Ultimate has done it again, it's managed to reduce me to a writhing wreck. Why do I succumb to such provocation? I have just had a copy of Knight Lore fall into my hands and am totally hooked. After struggling with it for over an hour, I only managed to conquer seven per cent of the game. Towards the end even the budgie was cowering in the corner afraid I would throw the joystick at him.

What is it all about? Knight Lore is Ultimate's new arcade adventure game and it's brilliant, even better than its last release, Underwurlde. Ultimate has always been my favourite for Spectrum games and the company hasn't let me down this time.

You play the part of a little man with a big problem. He's had a curse placed on him and has 40 days and 40 nights to find the wizard and a cure or he becomes a permanent werewolf. Not a nice thought.

It isn't even a nice place that he has to hunt for the wizard. It's a dark, evil castle - full of all sorts of nasties.

You may think that 40 days is a pretty long time to hunt a little castle for a wizard, but believe me, 40 years wouldn't be long enough. Even if you could make five lives last a little longer, there are so many rooms to look in.

As if that wasn't enough, every evening when the moon rises the little man performs some sort of weird rain dance and turns into a werewolf. This doesn't prevent you from continuing on your journey once you have calmed down but if a ghoolie approaches you while you are quivering he will kill you - extremely unfair. One thing that makes the game more fun is that you always start off somewhere different, so you do see different rooms each time you play.

There are two ways of moving. You can either rotate left or right and then move forwards or you can move up the screen, down, left and right by using the directional control option. I found this much easier as it's very difficult trying to decide which way to rotate. There is also a joystick option.

The graphics in this game are excellent; some of the best I have seen on any machine. You can tell what the werewolf is supposed to be without having to hunt through the instructions to find out what that indescribable blob is, unlike some other games.

The rooms are extremely well depicted and animation is superb. Collapsing floors fall smoothly away from beneath your feet and gates open and close very realistically.

I can't tell you how many different screens there are because the sequence changes all the time and there are always new ones appearing.

As you travel through the castle there are different objects you can pick up, such as boots and goblets. But beware, if an object has a skull on it, one touch will kill you. There are also a few statues around which seem to kill you if you touch them.

There is always some problem to solve - objects are scattered around that you can't move past and you must discover a way of going over or under them. At the same time there may also be sentries following you or spiked balls dropping on your head.

Never mind a turkey or Christmas pud this year, just buy a copy of Knight Lore and you'll keep the whole family quiet for days I promise you.