When Wintersoft originally released The Ring of Darkness it was surely one of the best adventure games available for the Dragon. The game enjoyed such success that it was inevitable that a sequel would follow.

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Return of the Ring is subtitled "The Ring of Darkness Part 2", but as a piece of software it is far superior to its predecessor. The program is written in 100% machine code with full colour high resolution graphics (PMODE3) mixed with text which includes lower case.

As with The Ring of Darkness, side A of the tape enables you to set up your role-play character - you are given points to divide up amongst number of lives and various characteristic attributes, and you must also decide what form your character will take, for example "Human Warrior" or "Elf Technician". This procedure need only be done once as you can save the game and your character on tape at any point.

The game itself is on side two of the tape. Clear instructions are given as to when to start the cassette - the game is too large for 32k so parts are loaded in and out as required.

A hi-res picture showing your location is constantly displayed; below this is a text window where command lines are entered. One of the best features of this game is its ability to handle whole sentences, such as "Give the dagger to Merek the Elf" and so on.

The quest begins in a maze which is displayed from above, figure movement is achieved via the arrow keys. In this part of the adventure you can fight and transact with mutants and enter villages to buy and sell useful items. These Villages are also displayed and entering a shop causes a 3D picture of the inside of the room to be displayed.

Other locations, such as the forest planet, are loaded in from tape and are shown in excellent 3D graphics. A few characters that you meet are controlled by a program called Actel, and are capable of doing most things you can do of their own free will and may join you to help in your quest.

There is simply not room to describe all of this game's features - the program took over a year to create. It is certainly the best adventure/role play game that I have seen for the Dragon so far and is excellent value at £9.95.