Camelot: The Caves of Mordred

The power of flight has been the dream of humankind pretty much since about five seconds after we discovered how to make fire. With warmth taken care of, our thoughts turned to the skies and many would-be birdmen and women met their end with a thud when attempting to imitate the creatures of flight they so envied.

Most famous of all were the legendary Greeks, Icarus and Daedalus. Fashioning bird-like wings from feathers and wax, the pair gave flight a bash, but soon found out there is a bit more to sustained aviation than strapping some feathers to your arms and leaping merrily off a cliff, much to the detriment of poor Icarus.

Yet, there don't appear to be any such worries for the winged protagonist of Camelot: The Caves of Mordred. Here, King Arthur soars and sweeps through the air using similar equipment, as if gravity was simply something Newton made up when drunk on fermented apples.

The game's action takes shape primarily as a straight-up flying shooter that anyone who played Space Harrier back in the days of the Sega Mega Drive will be familiar with. It's your charge as King of the Round Table to rescue four knights being held captive in the caves of Mordred. You actually only get to save two of the knights in this game, with the other two held captive in a separate episode that makes up the other half of series.

Viewed from behind King Arthur (who sports a red tights-and-tunic effort that could be politely described as fashionably androgynous), you control his majesty as he flies through the air either with the thumbstick or the '2', '4', '6' and '8' buttons.

The '5' key, meanwhile, fires arrows so as to dispatch evil bats that stand between you and the end of the level. Should things get too hectic, you also have smart bombs at your disposal (three per level) with which kill all the onscreen enemies.

To help you plan your journey, there's a health and a distance bar, and as you hurtle towards your goal the latter fills to indicate how close you are whilst the other does what health bars have been doing in games since the dawn of digital time.

Upon reaching the end of the level, you're presented with a simple memory mini-game that requires you to remember accurately the positioning of various different potions on a grid. Once this has been completed you can progress to the next level and more aeronautical shooting action.

The flying sections are enjoyable enough to begin with, not least because of the solid visuals, but they're devoid of challenge. The manoeuvrability of the main character is pretty limited, although impressively you can turn through 360 degrees in the play area. But what is more telling is that this in itself is not a big deal, given that your foes tend to fly directly within your aiming line and rarely get close enough to attack.

Ultimately, Camelot: The Caves of Mordred falls short of the mark due to this flat difficulty curve, the restrained nature of the action, and its longevity, which will leave you plenty of newspaper time on the commute to work after you have quickly bested it. It looks good and it's certainly not a terrible offering by any stretch of the imagination, but it just never really takes flight.