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Good grief. We've had pre-production copies. We've had preview copies, we've even had botched-up demo copies. This, however, is a first. It's a penultimate version of Action Reflex. Why companies won't just admit that the ruddy product isn't ready is beyond me!

Hurumph!! Having got that off my chest, I can get on with the important issue; what the game is actually like.

It's been written by C. F. Urqhart. Name rings a bell, doesn't it? Unfortunately, there's nothing that I could find which makes this game stand out from the run-of-the-mill offerings which flood the C&VG offices.

The "aim" of the game is exploration. It's nicely presented, with very colourful graphics and reasonable sound. You take control of "bounce", a sphere. Hardly the most charismatic character. Still, he's certainly got some energy; rushing around the screen like nobody's business. You control him simply by pushing the joystick left and right, and pressing fire to make him bounce. (Keyboard control is included as well.)

It's humiliatingly frustratingly. The C&VG swear-box was filled to overflowing after only a few seconds' play. Mirrorsoft says that they will be making some alterations which "may affect gameplay". With any luck, it will make the thing slightly more easy. As it stands, the game is just too tough.

Your progress through the various screens is hampered by an assortment of nasties - some stationary, others mobile. There are a number of traps. Crossing a suspect pad in the floor may well result in your being sprung into the air. If there is a magnet above the pad, you're in serious trouble as a dart will fly across the screen and effectively burst your ball, while you are hanging helplessly from the magnet.

Water troughs and plain-old holes provide more ball-breaking problems. You can take some transport short-cuts too. Chutes and tubes will whizz you from place to place.

The main problem with the program is that bounce is so bloody hard to control! Once he's started his frenetic bouncing routine, it's nigh-on impossible to stop him from careering into something deadly.

That's just about it. Nothing particularly special.