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Forget Cruise, forget Kidman. Willis is yesterday's box-office, Moore - what 'Gimme Moore'? - overpriced. Nicholson? He wants a wheelchair on set. Michael Douglas - are you serious? Leonardo di Caprio... give me a name I can spell for chrissake!

Bug. Yeah Bug. The hottest name on the hill since Mamie Van Doren put on her slingbacks or Mel Gibson got on a motorbike. What's more, he's dirt cheap for a picture. And I mean diry. Joan Crawford demanded Louis B Mayer provide a mansion on the lot.

This guy's happy with a pile of dung in the corner of his trailer. People have been putting around that it's a case of the 'casting couch'. Well, that's where we found him, laying eggs at the time. The producer wanted to get the exterminator in... but do you know how much Arnie costs these days? Anyway, I wanted to give the buy a break. It's personality that counts these days. So he's making a movie with Sega. No expense spared: it's going to be the best 3D epic since 'House Of Wax' with Vincent Price.

Bug is the platform game brought into three dimensions. Each of the eighteen stages is a vast network of gantries and platforms heading back into the screen as well as left and right. Unlike Clockwork Knight, the screen scales smoothly into these backgrounds, and you can jump onto enemies from the front and back. Sometimes the paths become sheer.

Bug is full of secrets to be uncovered. The easiest bonus game to uncover comes when you collect a requisite number of gems per level. Also take any coins you find to Daddy-o Long Legs, who whisks you to one of many 'trippy' bonus levels. In one you even get to race against Sonic! Always look out for suspicious parts of the path, which often lead to hidden sections with bonuses galore.

Now, this is a bit more like it. Remember when games were allowed to be fun? This little treat is so instantly disarming, so deceptively complex and so incredibly playable that it's impossible to put down. If Daytona and Virtua Fighter weren't enough reason to invest in a Saturn, then the game you've been waiting for has arrived.

We knew Bug! was going to be good, but not this good. This is one of those fantastic games where everything is just right.

Graphics are pretty amazing, both in character and movement; the sound is brilliant, with a stream of Bug's comments accompanying your play. But it's the gameplay which will take you the longest to appreciate.

Although Bug is instantly accessible and addictive, you might be fooled into thinking it's simplistic and unoriginal. Nothing is further from the truth.

This is an extremely devious game, with just about every section meticulously planned. There are multiple paths through each stage, allowing you to take different routes, and the more time you spend, the more secrets are revealed. The bonus rounds are excellent too. The whole affair is damned, damned hard, and should give even the best players several weeks of trouble.

Yes, it's a platformer, but the next gen machines need platformers like any other game, and this is the best on any 32-bit system, without hesitation.

Bug was developed by the Sega Away Team, Sega's dynamite US developers, as a true 32bit platformer.

Explore the six tortured worlds of Cadavra's domain.

Graphics 93%
P. Brilliantly rendered sprites, humorously drawn and functional but pleasing background layouts.

Animation 88%
P. Excellent use of 3D animation, for sprites and the whole movement of the layout is dazzling.

Music 89%
P. Frenetic, jaunty, well-arranged Dixieland. N. Not to everyone's taste.

Effects 91%
P. Superb - orchestral crashes for each impact and tons and tons of chuckle-worthy samples.

Playability 94%
P. Absolute and total accessibility, with one of the best learning curves of any game. Lots of freedom to make choices.

Lastability 92%
P. Loads of levels, loads of secrets, vast playing area, and a continue system which is not over-generous.

Overall 94%
If you've ever liked playing platformers you must have this for your Saturn. An absolutely essential buy for those into gameplay.