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A great disappointment here, I'm afraid. Boulderdash, as you may know, was originally an American release for the C64 from First Star software, very popular over here about three years ago for the C64 and, I believe, the Spectrum.

Nobody thought it worth coding a Beeb version - although at least one unreleased attempt exists out there in some collections. That was perhaps a sensible decision as the game doesn't really suit the machine at all. And, more importantly, we've since seen the amazing success of Repton which takes the game's basic idea and twists it into something exceptional.

That idea? Nothing more complex than screen of earth with diamonds to collect and falling boulders to avoid, I'm afraid. Three years ago it may well have been astounding; now it just looks tired and old fashioned.

Which is a shame for both Tynesoft (who've invested heavily in a number of US licences of which this is one) and programmer A. G. Bennett, a newcomer to the Tynesoft team. It's an excellent conversion - that goes without saying - but nobody seems to have sat down and wondered what they were converting and why.

The graphics are small and the game plays very slowly. There are nice touches here and there and if you want an official version of the game then Tynesoft have done you proud. It's just a pity that the original game wasn't any better.

A case of the Rockford fails, perhaps?

Dave ReederDave Fifield