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The continuing saga of Cuthbert reveals Microdeal's hero/victim to be trapped underground, his ambition (and, of course, yours) being to reach the surface. Cuthbert needs to jump up five levels along which trundle sets of trucks as obstacles to be avoided. Cuthbert must jump into the gaps if he is not to be knocked down to the level below.

The bottom of the screen is a fiery pit which means the end of Cuthbert should he fall too far. To complicate matters a demon patrols a ladder spitting fiery death should he spot Cuthbert on a level.

Cuthbert has four 'lives' ("we can rebuild him, we have the technology") and you can use either the joystick or the arrow keys to guide to the single surface exit. Eight escapes means promotion to the next screen. There are five of these, ranging from 'easy' to 'impossible'. You can select which screen to start at, a feature which I feel should be the norm rather than the exception.

The graphics are good with Cuthbert's response quick, and all the game sound have been well thought out and executed. Presentation includes a demonstration mode and a high score table is provided for those of you who are good enough to get on it. All in all, a thoroughly addictive fun game.

One minor (had to get it in) niggle: why does the documentation entitle the program Cuthbert In The Mines when the title page on-screen declares Cuthbert In The Mine? Does Microdeal know something about NCB policy that we don't?