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"Ultimate have done it again" is fast becoming a cliche, but an appropriate one for this game. Placed in a spooky town, your task is to destroy four particularly nasty creatures. This is done with the aid of a collection of objects: a hammer, an hourglass, a cross and a Bible. Any of the objects will zap any of the spooks, but if you use the right one for each, your score benefits.

A lesser peril is the collection of weird and wonderful denziens who roam the town. These injure you on contact, touching three nasties will kill you. The effects of this poison can be cured with a potion.

The foul creatures can be killed by shooting them with one of the four antibodies, which appear when you linger in certain rooms. Beware, some of the antibodies may not kill the foe, different characters respond to different treatment. It is advisable to learn which does what and to whom.

Initially, Nightshade looks a lot like Allen 8 and Knight Lore, it is viewed from the same 3D angle and has similar three colour graphics. The movement is the same rotate and walk or directional control and the game feels 'Ultimatey'. Nightshade is, however, a real improvement and a very different game. Instead of being a room by room, location game the action scrolls. As your character moves behind walls they vanish, so that you can still see yourself.

There is nothing to jump onto and so timing and positioning is less critical. This is the first Ultimate 3D game where you get to shoot things. The skills involved become mapping and pattern matching.

To a lesser extent than other Ultimate programs, once you have cracked it there is not much incentive to play again, but it is the playing, mapping and living the game which makes Nightshade. Sheer programming brilliance helps but it is that undefinable something which draws me to this game.