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Here's a truth that a lot of Spectrum fans won't ever admit - the Amstrad CPC is a better machine. In the Eighties, Spectrum owners would respond to this truism with "Oh yeah? Well, how comes the Spectrum has so many more games for it, then?" or "Hah! So great that every game is green?" thanks to the preponderance of green-screen monitors shipped with Amstrads in its heyday. But, when you play Amstrad games now (whether that's on your Widescreen TV via a scart lead or via WinApe or another emulator on your PC), they're colourful, sprightly and graphically, usually capable of a darn sight more than your average Speccy title.

The two machines don't, however, get equal amounts of love. The Spectrum remains one of the kings of the emulation scene, whilst the Amstrad manages only a handful of new games every year. And before you all yell that there's more than a handful thanks to the annual Amstrad CPCRetroDev contest, I caution you not to believe their hype. If I was being diplomatic, I'd call 2017's entries a mixed bag. Of shite.

However, as much as students of the University of Alacante may be forced to inflict their dross on an undeserving fanbase year after year, all is certainly not lost... There was the excellent Orion Prime, the sublime Imperial Mahjong, the accomplished Pinball Dreams conversion, the two Goodbye To The Breed platformers and, even though I didn't like CPCRetroDev2016's winner Outlaws, I'm prepared to admit that many people do. So that leads me nicely into this year's winner, Baba's Palace, a platform/puzzle game of the type where you must solve 100 levels of increasing difficulty. Ostensibly, the objective is to recover a treasured Elixir of Life but in reality it's one of those games where the reward is actually to feel incredibly smug at having worked out how to complete each screen.

The game is a simple one - you're cast in the role of Shaolin Kid, who looks like a meaner and slightly less jolly version of Gremlin's Jack The Nipper. Being a bruiser of sorts, Shaolin hauls himself around in a slightly stuttering way. He doesn't walk or glide around like your average platform hero and he can't jump or shoot either; instead, he sort of spurts forward and then catches his breath. If there's a henchman barring his way, he'll change his potter for a quick fist-pump in the baddy's direction, instantly obliterating him from the map.

The nemeses in Baba's Palace aren't of the patrolling type. In fact, they don't move at all. Instead they sit around looking all sinister (Actually, that's a lie, they actually look a darn sight happier than our hero!) and your objective is to clear each and every one of them from each screen to proceed to the next. Screens are of the "ladders and levels" type - they don't scroll, and contain rocks, sand and sundry other objects; all of which are either needed to solve the unique problem posed by that screen, or put there to distract you from an obvious solution.

Completing each screen gives you a warm feeling and an access code so that you don't need to play through all the preceding ones again. Early screens are easy, meaning you can get straight into the game without even reading the instructions, and act as a tutorial of sorts. By screen ten the difficulty is being ratcheted up (There are 100 in all) and by the halfway point the true genius of the authors is revealed - I'd venture even Sherlock Holmes himself would struggle to eliminate the impossible from them.

What sets Baba's Palace on a pedestal, and probably the reason it was the winner hands down in this years competition, is the perfect combination of elements. The graphics are some of the best I've ever seen on an Amstrad; unique, colourful, anime-inspired designs coupled with fantastic animation and neat unexpected touches (For example, when attacking a baddy partway up/down a ladder, Shaolin just kicks out left/right rather than face his enemy!). The sound is pretty spiffy too, with a bouncy track playing on interrupt throughout the action. But it's the fact that the playability and challenge is so engaging that brings out the best in the machine here. Baba's Palace truly feels like an arcade game - you could imagine it standing proudly next to Tetris or Klax in the arcade halls of old and not looking one jot out of place.

If there is one criticism, it's only a small one and it concerns what happens when you have to give up. If, for example, Shaolin finds himself trapped in a hole, or between two rocks (Remember, he can't jump!), then the only option is to press Escape to restart the screen. There's no lives system, which is great for all you tryers out there, but Escape brings up a little menu with the option to Restart the screen, Continue the screen or Quit the game. Unfortunately, this little menu seems just a tiny bit touch sensitive. If you actually press Escape rather than tap it, the menu flicks on and disappears just as fast, returning you to your prison. Getting trapped is frustrating enough. Having to engage in a battle of wills with the escape menu makes it worse.

The great news though is that Baba's Palace is really in a league of its own. It's one of the best Amstrad games I've ever played and, if you believe, on current form, that good Amstrad games are only appearing once every few years or so, then this will certainly keep you going until the next one comes along. And, in my opinion, this simply couldn't be done with the same amount of finesse on the Spectrum. Oh, and did I mention that it's completely free?

Superb stuff.