Simon still knows how to put a spell on you...

BOY WIZARD'S POINT-AND- CLICK ORIGIN STORY MAKES FOR A MAGICAL ADVENTURE

- CHERYL MULLIN

AS CHARACTER origins go, they don't get much stronger than Simon the Sorcerer's.

The first game, released way back in 1993, was a point-and-click adventure that made waves with Amiga players.

It followed the adventures of the self-titled hero, who embarks on a mission to become a wizard and rescue another from an evil sorcerer.

But what made the game so special was the incredible mix of shows and literature that sparked its creation.

Heavily inspired by Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, the game also blended in parodies of famous fantasy stories and fairy tales, such as Lord of the Rings and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Simon himself was modelled on Rowan Atkinson's cunningly cynical Edmund Blackadder, and if all that wasn't enough, Red Dwarf's Chris Barrie gave Simon his voice - for the CD ROM version anyway.

Seven more games would be released in the following years, the last being Simon the Sorcerer 5: Who'd Even Want Contact? in 2009.

A planned Simon the Sorcerer 6 was ultimately scrapped in 2016, and it looked like our boy wizard had run out of magic.

But then Italian developer Smallthing Studios got hold of the licence, and after a 16-year hiatus the world's most sarcastic teenage wizard has returned in this snarky coming-of-age story.