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Many moons ago (a few hundred at least), King Tibor was murdered by his brother, Zolphar, who returned to the land after many years in exile, accompanied by a well-hard army of demons and devils. However, Tibor's son (he isn't named in the instructions, so we'll call him... er... Bob) was whisked away while all this nastiness was going on and has been in hiding ever since. And now, as rightful heir to the throne, he wants it back.

Unfortunately, Bob isn't terribly well equipped to do over Zolphar's Army of Chaos. His total armoury consists of - a dagger. So the first part of the mission follows Bob's efforts to rally the people of his land into an army worthy of the task.

The Green Country - or a least its interesting bits - is represented by a large map on screen, showing the seven main ports of call. Bob rides between these locations on horseback, accompanied by some very smart animation indeed. The whole game is controlled by a pointer and menus, so all you have to do is click on Bob's destination and off he trots.

Upon arrival, one of the many dead smart pictures appears showing the scene in detail with a narrow scrolling map beneath. This bit allows you to wander around and explore any of the buildings in the area. Whenever Bob walks smack into some masonry, a jab of the fire button either brings up a message hinting at the right direction to move, or allows him inside to nose around.

Specific buildings, like inns, shops and churches, are home to characters who Bob can natter with, give things to, or from whom he can buy items which appear as though they might become vaguely useful later on.

Other activities into which Bob can enter in an effort to increase his social standing among the peasants include a quick bout of arm wrestling increases Bob's muscles; a swift game of craps (dice!) with the Captain can increase his gold count; winning the occasional sword fight against rampaging knights increases his bravery; and making off with the annual archery tournament does all three plus gaining him the respect of the local populace.

All these sections are extremely well portrayed, with more stunning graphics, some very impressive animation, and the accompaniment of some bang-on effects plus ripping medieval tunes.

So by doing favours for people, improving his status (not to mention his bank balance) and trying not to get killed, Bob eventually draws together a rag-tag army of peasants, knights, and rebels and can withdraw to his castle to plan the attack on the dreaded Army of Chaos. (Army? Bob... what's going on?)

And this is where stage two of the mission kicks off. Having gathered as many men together as possible (at least one regiment) Bob and his troops can go to war. (War? Nobody mentioned anything about a war. Er... Bob?)

The screen changes to an overhead view of the battleground as the two massed forces face off against one another: goodies to the south, baddies oop t'north.

This strategy combat section alternates between two stages - movement and battle and is a much simplified chess-type wargame. Before allocating movement points or allowing your troops to charge headlong into the enemy (the normal method of attack), it's best to check the strength and morale of the individual regiments to find out the stronger units. And then rush headlong into the enemy.

Two regiments may do battle only when they are adjacent to each other. It's simply a question of making sure your men outnumber the opposition - like having two of your units attacking one enemy unit.

Finally, once the Army of Chaos has been duffed up, lucky old Bob gets to confront uncle Zolphar's evil forces in the heart of his labyrinthine lair. This section is represented by a Gauntlet-style overhead-running-around-the-maze game. Bob has to make his way through the six levels of the maze, collecting keys to allow access to later sections and picking up swords to help him in the arcade battles between levels.

Here, Bob is accosted by Zolphar's monster beings, who are terribly aggressive and do nasty things like chucking acid. As long as he can survive this onslaught and reach the end of the labyrinth before his energy runs out, Bob could quite well live to recapture his throne and live happily ever after.

Not really a contest as such, more the opportunity not to get killed stone dead. Occasionally, some mad knight tries to do you over for no adequately explained reason. You can turn the other cheek - and get it hacked off - or you can accept the challenge and take up arms against your armour-plated opposition.

You view the scene through Bob's visor, and this bit is actually very well presented. There's some major animation of the enemy swinging his sword, and your sword appearing to parry the move. It's all joystick-controlled and very entertaining too. Until you die. Tape or disk?

We reviewed Iron Lord on disk, although it's possible that a tape version will be available. However, be warned - any tape versions would have to be serious multiloads or cut-down versions of the game we played.

Also, the disk version suffered from a naff save/load system which frequently crashed. *Be warned!*

1. Fragile DOS results in crashes when loading and saving.
2. You really need to win the archery tournament to succeed - but it's pretty damn tough!

1. The graphics are absolutely brill. Loads of smart scenics, and some very effective animation.
2. The sonics (courtesy of the Maniacs of Noise) are very sharp indeed. Swords clangs, footsteps and medieval tunes maintain the atmosphere.
3. Interesting and varied three-stage game should keep you plugging away for ages.
4. Simple pointer/menu system is fast and comfortable to use.
5. Nicely written manual gets you in the right medieval mood.
6. Contains the best archery simulator there is!
7. Playable sub-games keep the yawn level low.