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Virgin Games have recently been making noises to the effect that they are trying to improve their software lists and their somewhat shak reputation. Sinbad is one of the first offerings in this new wave.

The company has removed its header page from this game - rather a shame since it was one of their best features in the past, and it loads commendably quickly to display the standard control keys, which are not redefinable. The game features a very lanky Sinbad climbing up and down a rope ladder to his magic carpet and trying to convert things that look like cold-cure tablets into things that look like angry tape cassettes. If you touch a converted creature, you are knocked off your perch onto the ground and have to jump on again when the carpet comes within reach.

Changing all the weirdos into other odd creatures moves you to the second game, which has Sinbad on his carpet flying over the earth, while avoiding asteroids which zing past in a fairly convincing attempt at 3D. If you hit any rocks, your energy is sapped. This stage lasts as long as it took yoou to complete the previous stage, which would be a clever idea if avoiding 3D asteroids was new or exciting.

After this interlude it's back to jumping on carpets and changing floating rocks to hysterical albatrosses. This time you also have to avoid a very wide spider who also saps your energy if touched. All this energy is being drained away without anyone telling you about it, until it has run out. The higher levels feature snakes as well.

The high score screen shows the percentage of the journey you completed. Virgin advertise Sinbad as 'fun for all the family'. My three-year-old certainly enjoyed it, but I wasn't inspired to try for 100 per cent.