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Noble King Maximus of Contentia only has one fault: he's scatterbrained - and boy, has that got him into trouble. There he was walking along, carrying his Sceptre Of Order - the one artefact which unites the four continents of his kingdom into a nation - when, just for a moment, he allowed his mind to wander. And before he could say to himself, "I hope it won't be spinach again for lunch today," or "Oh look! My Sceptre's gone!" the Sceptre was gone.

An emergency of such immense proportions calls for a hero; and, wouldn't you know it, Hero just happens to be your middle name. Now it's just a matter of picking your identity (barbarian, sorceress, paladin or knight), selecting your difficulty level and you're raring to go.

Your mission, and you've got to accept it or it's curtains for Continentia, is to bring each of the Sceptre thieves to justice. In return, you get a section of the map which shows where the Sceptre's hidden. And, once you've got the Sceptre, the King's bounty is as good as yours.

Your noble quest is displayed Ultima-style: you ride through blocky plains, forests and small but perfectly formed country towns. Though they're no great shakes by arcade standards, for a role-playing game the graphics are unusually detailed and very well animated; even your faithful white nag actually moves a bit like a horse.

Continentia is your oyster if you've got an army at your side, and it's up to you exactly how you conduct your vital campaign. Most villains are based in castles. These are defended by fairly large armies made up of the kind of creatures you'd normally pay to avoid. Only a fool rushes into a huge battle with brigades of orcs, zombies, sprites and wolves straight away. First, it pays to wander around, read the signposts (they're full of handy clues!), open a few treasure chests and kill a few bands of marauding nasties here and there. There are usually plenty of peasants around and they're remarkably cheap to recruit.

A separate easy-to-use fighting mode allows the use of spells, weapons and other mutilating instruments, and gives a minimalistic animated image of the action as it occurs. Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Turn Undead spells are particularly useful against large enemy forces, though whether you've got enough ability to use them depends on your character class. Knights and barbarians need plenty of instruction; to a sorceress, magic comes naturally. Spells can be bought in towns, won as a reward or even found lying around. Enhancing magic abiliiy is a matter of luck.

Each of Continentia's continent quartet harbours two mysterious artefacts of power. Each one of these is wrapped up in another piece of the Sceptre map, Their effects are much sought after: a hero who carries the Sword of Prowess, for example, fights like a warrior possessed. Other artefacts give the bearer valuable discounts on boat hire, an increased gold commission from the King, or enhanced magical strength (especially useful if you're a barbarian). The only way to travel from one continent to another is to brave the dangers of the open sea and rent out a boat.

Unlike the most in-depth fantasy games, King's Bounty doesn't take ages to get into even if you're new to the genre. It's packed with action, comes complete with a large fantasy world to explore and provides more than enough surprises o keep you on your toes. All that's missing s a tad more puzzleability - Ultima fans probably won't find enough cerebral challenge to really exercise their brains. However, if you're a novice role-player and booting monsters is the way you like to get your kicks, rush out, buy it and save good King Maximus.

1. You need a back-up utility and a blank disk to play.
2. Long-winded loading system leads to thumb-twiddling.
3. No joystick option.

1. Nicely animated graphics.
2. Lots of ugly enemies to vanquish in battle.
3. Well-produced instruction book with scene-setting story.
4. Useful reference sheets included in the package.
5. There's a large magical world for you to explore.
6. You can choose from four different characters to play.
7. Flexible control system.
8. Varied and fast-paced gameplay keeps the interest high.
9. Clear, functional combat.