Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon, PC

The MS-DOS version of Cinemaware‘s Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon was released in 1989 and it is not a bad game although the fighting sections – it has to be said – are a bit pathetic.

Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon is a fantasy action adventure game where you play as Sinbad, obviously, and must explore beyond the starting town of Damaron by either walking from town to town or by setting sail in your mighty ship. Every step you take is timed and can trigger random events, and these events are conveyed to you as text messages as you play. Occasionally you’ll be stopped by a challenge event, which are basically action-style minigames that must be completed to continue.

There are useful items to find, like the genie in the bottle who’ll grant you three wishes, and of course legendary monsters to slay when you encounter them. If a quest requires that you find a person or a creature you can ask Iris the gypsy woman where they are. Be wary of seductive women who will take three days off your schedule if you decide to bunk up with them though…

The graphics in this are mostly the same as seen in the Atari ST version, which is fine as they’re better than the graphics in the Amiga original. The gameplay in Sinbad is an equal mix of absorbing and annoying. The Cyclops fight minigame in this – I couldn’t ever beat it because the throw/sling mechanic just isn’t up to scratch… In other versions of this game the sling at least feels like you’re throwing something at him. In this version the fight is just a key-pressing mess of confusion, then death. Thankfully, Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon is designed to be re-started again quickly, and re-played over and over again. The random events make it different every time, so it’s a game that’s been designed to be re-played a lot, and to reward you with a new scene every once in a while (or annoy you with the same minigame three times in a row).