SAVAGE is not your ordinary barbarian. He is psychic, has great magical powers and is going steady with one maiden. The loss of the latter two has made him angry. Not mildly angry, with the type of anger that would make any rational barbarian wait a couple of thousand years for someone to invent MPs and then write and complain, but really quite astonishingly angry indeed.

And to cap it all, whoever nicked his magic and his love has not only imprisoned him, but has also made the mistake of leaving him his battle axe. Someone, somewhere, is going to regret that.

So it is off we jolly well go down the dark and dank corridors, putting cold steel - OK, cold iron for the pedantic - to the many foes that block his way. Useful weapons are dotted about, and some of the foes relinquish treasures, energy potions and orbiting shields when you zap 'em.

Occasionally you get to meet mid-level guardians, which are best tackled by keeping running. The platform sections - of the fiery pit variety - will have you digging out your Spectrum and Manic Miner to hone your jump timings.

In the first level it is almost a shame to destroy the enemies because, thanks to artist Nick Bruty, they are rather well done. Besides, killing things makes a noise which interferes with the tune - and you would not want to do that, would you?

Kevin Collier, who did the tunes and the SFX, has produced the best set of noises ever to emanate from the Amiga to date. Many people have jammed sampled sounds in some semblance of order before, but Kevin's stuff in this game really does put some arcade machines to shame.

The second level, where Savage discovers the whole escapade is a trick and he must return to the castle dungeon, does not seem to be as well thought out as the first. It involves charting a course - Space Harrier style - through hideous monoliths and shooting various static nasties, but something is missing. It has got neat graphics, good sound, but the controls do not work convincingly.

Level three - taking Savage's eagle through the dungeon - has better gameplay, good sound, but only competent graphics. It has also got a yukko bit when the eagle gets nixed. Blecch!

The last two levels can be played without completing level one; you only get a single life, but at least you won't be completely stuck if you find the first level too hard.

There is plenty there - two discs full - and level one is great, especially if you liked Beyond the Ice Palace, Ghosts 'n' Goblins and similar types. But I have my reservations about level two. You will either flip over it or express a complete lack of interest.