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The Game Boy is bulging at the seams with puzzle games... and rightly so. What better way to kill time on that boring bus journey than to whip out your favourite handheld and have a quick blast on a panic-inducing puzzler - it doesn't need to be ground-breakingly original or hugely intellectual, just engrossing enough to distract your attention away from the dandruff on the shoulders of the old bloke in front.

Cool Bricks is a fine example of a game that will do just that... and more besides. Based around the age-old idea of bouncing a ball off a bat to knock out the bricks in a wall (those with long memories might recall Arkanoid, which graced both arcades and home computers in the Eighties) it is pick-up-and-play puzzling at its best. Of course, in this day and age, that kind of game wouldn't be much cop unless it had a few bells and whistles attached, and Cool Bricks certainly has.

For starters, there are loads of levels to get through (over 150 in fact) and every time you complete four, you're given a password that'll allow you to dive straight into the action next time you play.

The gameplay is also enhanced no end by the countless power-ups which fall from the skies from time to time. From brick-destroying lasers to extra lives and a magnetic bat, these goodies from heaven make the game all the more absorbing. Don't go thinking that it's all plain sailing, mind - some of the power-ups have negative effects, like the vicious poison that creates involuntary player control, and you'll also have to contend with evil enemies firing from above!

If it's originality you're after then you've come to the wrong place, but if you want an addictive, challenging puzzler that'll have you reaching for your Game Boy time and time again, you can't go far wrong with Cool Bricks.

Graphics 60%
Not bad at all.

Sound 80%
Just what it ought to be.

Playability 100%
Addictive and absorbing.

Lastability 100%
You'll be back for more.

Overall 86%
It's puzzle paradise!