In ancient times in the Orient there lived a mighty but cruel king Shahryar, who would behead his wives after nightly pleasure. But the cunning queen Scheherazade had a plan on how to survive. This plan included the wildest night in king’s life (and before you get any ideas, it wasn’t sexual).

She began telling him a tale, a tale that intrigued the king so much, he wanted to hear the end of it and thus queen Scheherazade returned to him every night and told forward the tale. Some of the world’s most famous stories were included in the:

One Thousand and One Nights. Among them are stories like the one of Aladdin and his magic lamp and also the story of Sinbad.

Now you have the opportunity, to take part in an oriental adventure of your own, made by Cinemaware in 1989 entitled Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon. To be more precise, you play the title role of Sinbad (and you are even mentioned in the ending credits - if you get that far).

They weren't called CINEMAware for nothing :).
You take on the role of heroic Sinbad (who for one reason or another looks like Jonathan Frakes from the Star Trek TNG), who has returned to his home town of Damaron. But his return is not a joyous occasion. Upon finding the mystical Theraniil Stone (used for communication with its twin stone back in the treasury of Damaron) a voice came from it and Sinbad rushed to answer the call. It was the voice of the lovely princess Sylphani (the daughter of the Caliph). The Caliph is sitting on his daughter’s shoulder in a form of a falcon into which he has been magically transformed and is unable to either rule or name an heir. At the same time the forces of prince Camaral are plundering the land.

Only the Shaman of the Western Tribes may restore the Caliph to his former self, but the longer he stays in the animal form, the more he will resemble the animal itself.

As a great hero you are the one who took the task of finding the Shaman in hope of saving the Caliph and also you need to command the armies of the Caliphate and try to prevent the dark prince from conquering the capital. Every time you gaze in the green crystal (the Theraniil Stone) you will see the sand running out thus use your time wisely.

As adventure games go, Sinbad is not the most difficult one. There are a few people to meet and places to visit in order to find the Shaman and save the Caliph. But the game offers a variety of mini-games. You need to stay clear of treacherous rocks in the bays of different cities unless you wish to move on to the story of Sinbad meeting the marefolk. There are Cyclopes to blind with a slingshot and birds to shoot down with a bow and arrow.

 You also need to take care of the crew (without it you can not sail) and the ship (if it’s lost at sea, you drown, otherwise you just loose it). Naturally you need to take care of yourself. You can get in trouble with people or forces more powerful then you and you need to survive, otherwise the only hope for the realm will vanquish.

You can play with the joystick or keyboard and enjoy this beautifully drawn colourful EGA adventure with oriental sounds. Unfortunately the game has no save feature, which is a real shame and bother. Still this game offers a lot of fun and gaming pleasures, so I hope you will get drawn into it so much, you won’t want to finish it or even pause. Definitely worth at least 4½ carrots (round it up or down, it’s up to you).