This very early, side-scrolling fantasy action game was created by Ian Weatherburn for Imagine Software in 1983.

In the game you control the titular Alchemist – a guy who can shape-shift into a golden eagle and fly to places he can’t normally walk to.

Along the way he meets various meanies, all of who must be either circumnavigated or dispatched, with the ultimate aim being: to find four pieces of a magic scroll and defeat an evil warlock.

Truth be told: Alchemist is a bit of a bore to play now. It’s one of those games that hasn’t aged that well, at least in gameplay terms…

That said: Alchemist was a very memorable game for the time. It showed that the ZX Spectrum was at least a decent games machine, and almost certainly inspired other programmers to try to do better.

More: Alchemist on Wikipedia