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Chuck Rock was always a man who knew how to make a buck. Seeing that civilisation was forever demanding more sophisticated forms of entertainment, he came up with an idea that was to revolutionise theme parks beyond prehistoric man's wildest dreams. By capturing a 20th Century mosquito that had somehow found its way into a timewarp, he was able to extract the blood it had drawn from another species, separate the DNA and thus pre-create a monster from the misty and distant future. To ensure that these new monsters were contained and unable to put Chuck's contemporaries in danger, Chuck set up a vast reserve. It was a success. Thousands upon millions of curious neanderthals flocked to see sights thay could never have imagined. They flocked to discover the wonder and mystery of the future. They flocked to... Cow Park.

Cow Park made Chuck more bucks than he could imagine, and after he sold film rights to some bearded git he made even more. But jealousy has been part of man since the dawn of time and it wasn't long before Chuck was mysteriously missing. As the Rock family soon discovered, he had been kidnapped by a certain Brick Jagger who has since taken to demanding vast portions of Chuck's wealth. Having a devoted family as Chuck does, the rescue is down to his son - six months old and mean with it, and armed with a club bigger than himself, it's down to the bambino to do the family name proud once again.

This Megadrive platform game sees Chuck Junior bash his way through six levels, each one split into a number of zones. As well as clubbing the endless enemies on his tail, there are plenty of power-ups for Junior to collect, a whole variety of creatues to use as transport and bonus levels to master. So... save Daddy and save the day!

You'll never guess what - this is the sequel to Chuck Rock. Believe it or not!

Guide Chuck around six levels, bashing enemies, collecting power ups and generally having a swell time.

While most of Chuck Junior's environment is swamped by creatures bent on thwarting his rescue there are still some souls who have it in their hearts to help the valient toddler out. Junior can jump on a host of animals and ride around on them. This might enable him to reach power-ups otherwise out of his reach, or mean he is protected from spikes or enemies. In the case of the prehistoric ostrich it means that Junior moves a lot faster and is able to make giant leaps.

Junior has his father's talent for clubbing and it's a good job too because he has to make use of it very often indeed. On top of the usual forward strike, Junior can also bash downwards by jumping first. Another little trick that the clever half pint is capable of pulling off is balancing on his club. This ability comes in useful when Junior finds himself faced with objects moving towards him that he can't destroy like boulders or spits of fire. He gets on his club and they fly right by leaving him unharmed. At one stage, Junior can even set fire to the end of his club to see what's going on in dark caverns.

There are a number of bonus levels in Chuck Rock II that enable Junior to accumulate more life. The first bonus screen involves Junior jumping on the back of particularly spongy animal and trying to knock all the apples from a tree. The second bonus section is a little water race involving lots of rapid button bashing. Another bonus stage involves the ole' button bashing technique again as Junior takes to carving out a figure of his pop, and finally there is a mine cart section where Junior has to survive until the ride is over.

There are a number of items that Junior can either pick up or make use of on his travels. Here is a selection of some of them:

1. Sweets
   These simply give Junior bonus points that are converted into extra life when he scores enough.
2. Milk Bottle:
   As you might expect, this restores Junior's energy. Milk bottles are often hidden in or between blocks or between blocks and other obscure places so always check every nook.
3. Bananas:
   To state the obvious, these only prove useful when there are monkeys around. They can be used to entice monkeys to a particular spot where Junior can jump on them and then onto something else.
4. Rocks:
   Certain large rocks are movable. By jumping on them, Junior can reach the otherwise unreachable, or by placing them in a bed of nails he avoids injury.
5. Baby Head:
   This provides an extra life. There aren't many of these around and gaining one often involves solving a bit of a puzzle that incorporates other items.

Yes it's another platform game, but let's not get all narrow-minded about such a stone-aged concept! There are many original features lurking in Junior's prehistoric journey and hundreds of sight gaps to accompany them. Junior himself is a laughably cute character but, as with his father's quest, the humour doesn't stop there. It's like playing through a Flintstones cartoon as scruffy-looking dinosaurs are batted about the head, rocks smashed and monkeys fed to great effect.

All this prevents the action from being overly predictable. To further this cause, the bonus stages are lively and fun, adding variation to the overall mix of good taste. Son Of Chuck is quite different from the usual standards set by platform games in general. It offers some new ideas and presents them all in as fine a way as possible.

Though Son Of Chuck hasn't made me go ga-ga it didn't take much for my growing to like it a great deal. Check it out.

This is very slick indeed. As can clearly be seen by the screenshots, Chuck Rock II scores full marks for graphics. It's swarming with colour and crowded with huge detailed sprites. There are loads of clever and amusing touches - the Brontosaurus eating a caveman, enticing monkeys with bananas, the level that takes place purely in torchlight and so on.

The gameplay reflects an equal devotion to quality, the controls being quick and the movement smooth. Beneath all this though, Chuck Rock II is still just another platform game, borrowing all of the previous tried and tested techniques and offering nothing new to the genre.

It is a fun game to play, but if you're very familiar with platformers the whole thing will no doubt seem very out worn. Chuck Rock II manages to avoid the trap of making everything too simple (although it's best to avoid the easy level!) and there is genuine incentive to make progress, but once I had made it through much of the game and got over feelings of smug satisfaction, there's no getting over the fact that this is just another game likely to join the platform mountain.

If you feel you're short on platform experience Chuck Rock II won't fail to fulfil. If, on the other hand, you've already had a gutful, I can't see how this game will prove all that different.

Presentation 82%
P. It comes with most of the regular options and a smart intro sequence.

Graphics 88%
P. Huge sprites, well detailed and original backdrops, groovy animation and all the trimmings.

Sound 78%
P. Typically plinky-plonk tunes and plenty of well produced sound effects.

Playability 85%
P. Very easy to control and the response is quick and smooth. No problems with collision detection and so on.

Lastability 76%
P. There are enough levels and things are tough enough to keep you plugging away for a while.
N. As is the problem with platformers, completion leaves little incentive ever to return.

Overall 82%
A highly polished platformer with all of the extras you're likely to find these days. But, that said, it's been seen before many a time.