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Don't be fooled, Mystery Of The Nile is not an adventure in the boring type-in text sense, this is real Adventure. Grab your pith helmet, fly swatter and Diocalms because we're going to mysterious and exotic Egypt.

Your quest is to find the Jewel of Luxor, the greatest of Egypt's treasures, which the evil Abu-Sahl (boo, hiss) is trying to hand over to South American collector Baron von Bloefeldt without a valid export licence. This task should be right up your street, or kasbah, because you are Nevada Smith the great adventurer with a lousy spoof name. You are helped by Janet, a sultry redhead from Milwaukee (I made up the sultry bit) and a local mystery man called Al Hassan.

That sounds reasonable as scenarios go. But what makes this game a bit special is that each of the three characters can be controlled separately, one at a time. When control is passed on (by hitting keys 1, 2 or 3 on the keyboard), the other characters simply string along behind. OK, so it's been done before, but it's still pretty clever.

The strategy element involves finding you what each character is good at and using that character in a particular siutation, since they are have individual skills and weapons. Naturally, instructions are minimal so you're obliged to find out what's what, who's who and how's how as you go along.

But don't think you've got your team together right from the beginning, other members are added to your crack squad as you progress through the screens. And in traditional style, you can't move onto the next screen until whatever has to be done is done. And you're not told what that is.

So you start as Janet, hopping from balcony to balcony, picking up her particular brand of weaponry, which look to me like exploding moneybags. She lobs these at various gun-toting guards and then proceeds to the next screen where there's more moneybad lobbing to be done.

Al-Hassan makes his entry on the third screen and tags on behind you, following you dutifully whenever you go, until you decide to activate him [Oo-er! - Ed]. When you do, Janet walks (in a sultry manner) round him and takes up her position at the rear. Al Hassan has a weapon of his own to pick up. It looks like a cucumber so it must be a sabre. Careful examination proves it to be a umbrella - this guy is weird.

The final and ost important member of the group, Nevada himself, is picked up on the fifth screen. No dodgy armaments for him, he will be equipped with his trusty Smith and Wesson.

All this has happened already and we're still in the city scene. According to the blurb, there's fighting and adventuring to be done in the desert, in a military base, against the pyramids and even on the top of a train. These boys have certainly done their research.

The programmers have charitably provided a 'save position' feature that works after every ten screens. When you've saved your position, you're given a password to enable you to start where you last left-off. This is a good idea since the game has nasty habit of sending you right back to the beginning when all your lives are lost, no matter how far you've already progressed.

Graphically, there are good things happening. The characters are large and well depicted. Take the guards, you could mistake any one of them for Yasser Arafat, with those tea towels wrapped around their heads. And Nevada himself shows up in regulation attire, wide-brimmed hat and 5 o'clock shadow. Actually you see it as 7 o'clock shadow because of the timelag between here and Egypt. [Clever so-and-so - Ed]

The scenery is impressive too. Everything is large and bright and the screens are quite varied. My only criticism is that much of the action takes place in the well-worn ladders and platforms format, however well disguised it may be.

Finally, a few words of praise for the music, which sounds like one of those snakecharmer tunes played on a fairground organ. Doesn't quite make you want to bellydance but it make the Turkish Delight taste better. Sadly, there is no music during play and sound effects are pretty sparse. There are the usual explosion sounds and a curious sound whenever you walk. This baffles me. Why is everyone in thie game wearing tap-dancing shoes?

Firebird is pretty keen on this game because it's the first one they've acquired for a pair of Spanish programmers who, by all accounts, are showing muchos promeez. I second that. They've produced a lively game that's big enough and challenging enough to provide many hours of play. This is good value stuff.