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When games like Knight 'N Grail come along for the Commodore 64, I always wonder what if it had been released back in the 1980s or early '90s, when the famous 8-bit was at its commercial height? Would it have been the Turrican-beater of the day? And, as this is a disk-only affair, would it have been cut or modified to run from cassette tape for the UK market? The fact is that a production like this is noticed by many fewer people than back then - something that even emulation doesn't compensate for. This is mostly because the average C64 fan is more likely to hunt down Monty On The Run than try something new on the old bread bin. So, what are they missing out on?

Knight 'N Grail is the creation of Wide Pixel Games. It is programmed by Mikeal Tillander, with graphics and other artwork from Håkon Repstad, and Hans Alexsson composing the music and sound effects. It tells the story of a maiden in distress who has had a curse put upon her, turning her into an ugly serpent sub-creature. Only one thing will save her from this terrible fate, and that is to search the locale for the mythical Vessel of Restoration. It's a familiar storyline, and the game starts off in the same vein. You would be forgiven for thinking that this is a simple Ghosts 'N Goblins clone. Far from it, though it does take some time before this becomes apparent.

This 2D platform-adventure game is full of eerie and evil beings, with several malevolent dragons to face throughout your quest, and many puzzles to unravel. Hints are written on the Rune stones which may not always help you until it's too late. But still there’s no limit on the number of lives you have to play with, so it's not all bad.

You have limitless weapons for your knight to hurl at the ghosts, goblins and other nasty roamers within. Most will eventually dispatch your foes, though some of them will be immune to specific weapons. It works the same with your armour; if you find and are wearing the right type, you will be invulnerable to certain hazards.

The 'Runes of Rebirth' allow you to save your progress at set points; if you don't find one, then you will start your quest at the beginning without your pieces of gold and silver, but with all of your weapons and body armour in tact. As for your arsenal, you start with an Iron Sword, which is thrown forward a short distance and comes back to you. Other swords are chucked at different angles and in varying ways, such as diagonally upwards. This helps to navigate parts of the game safely as long as the beasts blocking your way are susceptible to the projectile.

Graphically, this game is polished and well presented with great animation. Change the medieval theme to roaming robots, and you could almost have something from the master himself: Manfred Trenz (creator of the Turrican games, amongst others). Rather unusually, you will be listening to a short, mood-setting SID tune for a short while, and then sound effects in equal doses.

This actually doesn't distract from the game, and stops things becoming too tiresome. When a new area is loaded, with it comes a different musical score along with new ghouls and ghosts to face, and a map is available at any time by pressing space, showing only the areas that you have visited though.

This is the best game I've played since Joe Gunn: Gold Edition (now also available from Psytronik Software), and adds a new challenge for those C64 fans wanting more than nostalgia.

I recommend that you buy it for a rainy day as you certainly need to devote more than a few minutes here and there to it, and in any case, you are easily drawn in to this mythical binary world. In conclusion, a rather splendid and intelligently designed 2D platform game.

Product: Knight 'N Grail
Price: £8.99 (budget edition) or £12.99 (deluxe edition) - Disk only
Developer: Wide Pixel Games - www.widepixelgames.com
Publisher: Psytronik Software - www.psytronik.com
Platform: Commodore 64/128