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Forget about reality here for a second and imagine a time when fabled thingies abounded and magic and mystery were the norm. A time when the forces of good and evil survived together and a very thing line divided the powers of the two.

If you conjure up that kind of image, then you'll begin to get to grips with the incredibly complex aura of Twin World.

For centuries, the Gaspards lived in their twilight world, under the fair rule of the Cariken. Now the Carikens possessed a sacred amulet which kept badness at bay but, as is the norm with ancient relics, it slipped into oblivion, allowing the dark sorcere Maldur to storm in and massacre the unsuspecting Gaspards and the Carikens.

A legend arose which told that if a single surviving Cariken could once more hold the amulet, darkness would be driven away forever. To prevent this, Maldur split the amulet up into 23 pieces which he scattered around the world.

Surprise, surprise, one of the Carikens did survive the massacre. Ulopa, brought up by an old servant of the dead king, has been primted for his quest, and he's ready for the off. Grab your joystick and be prepared for some marvellous graphics and superlative gameplay in this fantasy adventure.

On route to the sorcerer's lair, you'll pass through some excellent scenery. You'll also meet a fair few baddies. Armed only with your magical stones to start with, battle your way through the wasteland taking on some wicked-looking Goulons, amongst other things (well, all the names are in French, so I won't list them all here now).

If you manage to make it past four levels, you get the chance of a bonus round. The more bits and pieces you've retrieved, the more points you get. Then it's off to even weirder surroundings.

At the beginning of each new level, you'll see the status of the amulet and how well you've done, so keep poking your nose into every corner for clues.

The amulet chips are usually diagonally shaped and exist only in the Twin Worlds, and you can jump in and out of these worlds to pick up the pieces.

Throughout the levels, pick up as many flutes as you can. These can be used to summon the merchant, who can sell you urgently needed supplies as well as extra lives. If you do eventually succeed in finding all 23 shards of the amulet, you'll need all the help you can get to take on the sorcerer at the bitter end.

For sheer imaginativity, Twin Worlds is a masterpiece. Controlling Ulopa is simple, but you'll need to practise throwing the different types of stone he can acquire.

One of the minor drawbacks of the game is that, if you get zapped, you go right back to the beginning of the level and start again. This is a touch infuriating, but it should drive you on to achieve better things.

The game is certainly addictive. It is also colourful, with some groovy monsters to keep you tearing across the screen. For high adventure stakes, get Twin Worlds and play it now.