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Ah yes, Sphinx And The Cursed Mummy, previously named Sphinx And The Shadow Of Set and also known as The One With All The Ancient Egyptian Mythology. A puzzle-heavy platform adventure with a splash of combat, the game has been around for a while - it was originally slated for an autumn 2003 release and was presumably delayed to avoid being lost in the Christmas deluge. And it's easy to see the logic of that decision. Although attractive and often charming to play, alongside the likes of Prince Of Persia, Sphinx looks desperately unoriginal.

Things start badly. The opening section sees Sphinx negotiating lava flows by jumping across moving platforms. Sign, how much more of a cliché do you want? Still, things improve considerably after that as the second playable character is introduced. Before the cursed mummy becomes a mummy, he's just your ordinary gay-as-a-lamppost Egyptian prince - scuttling around his palace opening secret passageways and chasing thieving birds is a hoot and not quite what we were expecting after all that fire and brimstone. Shame he has to get bandaged up really.

From here on in you alternate between Sphinx and his mummy, using amulets to activate portals that'll take you to different locations. Sphinx has all the usual platform trappings. Both characters are nimble types with a variety of leaping, climbing and crawling moves, but only Sphinx gets to attack monsters; the unarmed mummy is there to use his head. The puzzles are nicely varied, crop up frequently and get increasingly taxing as you progress.

The camera is generally efficient and likewise there's little frustration in controlling our two heroes. Our big disappointment, however, is with the sound, or rather the lack of it. There's no voice acting whatsoever, just the odd grunt or squawk and incessant 'spooky' music. Dialogue and plot are all conveyed by text and the atmosphere suffers greatly because of it. Despite this, Sphinx is a respectable adventure and worth a play if you've exhausted the Christmas gaming hamper. But go for Prince Of Persia if you haven't already.

Graphics 70%
Great environments and weird characters.

Sound 30%
No speech, and music that wears thin quickly.

Gameplay 70%
A balanced diet of puzzling and combat.

Lifespan 60%
Average, but with little replay value.

Overall 60%
A thoughtful if unremarkable adventure with a few decent ideas. We like the setting, we like the puzzles but it's all very average.