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Dinky Kong provides an object lesson in presentation - even the fast version loaded first time, which certainly makes a change, and clear onscreen prompts guide you through loading both parts of the program and tell you which keys to use for movement. Unfortunately, the game itself proved unplayable.

Dinky Kong is Donkey Kong for the 48K Oric. The graphics are well designed and the sound is good. There are nine levels of difficulty, and writer Adrian Sheppard seems to have got everything right, bar one factor - and unfortunately this factor is vital.

Movement is controlled via the cursor keys and space bar and, on my Oric at least, it proved impossible to get the space bar to work properly unless it was pressed down with both hands.

This meant relinquishing control of the movement keys and my reactions were just not fast enough to hit the space bar correctly and then regain control before being wiped out.

Dinky Kong - or Donkey Kong - has been around for a quite a while now. In this game, the player attempts to rescue a girl who is held captive by an angry gorilla at the top of a series of platforms.

To reach the distressed damsel, it is necessary to climb the ladders that connect the platforms, all the while avoiding the barrels and, in later stages of the game, fireballs that are hurled by the overgrown chimp.

In addition, there are extra points to be gained by touching the umbrellas that are scattered about, and by moving over the hearts that also appear randomly. These hearts not only score extra points, but also create gaps in the platforms through which barrels and fireballs will fall.

Once the top platform is reached, the player can move on to the next level by pressing the up-cursor key twice in succession while positioned next to either of the two small platform legs.

Points are scored at the rate of 10 for each move, plus 500 for each heart crossed, and 800 per umbrella. The player starts with three lives, and one is lost each time a barrel of fireball hits, or if the player falls off the edge of a platform.

A bonus life is allocated at 20,000 points.

I suspect that the problems with the space bar are a peculiarity of my particular Oric - which is a pity because Dinky Kong looks like a lot of fun, and I would have liked to have reviewed it in more depth.

I think that Severn Software and Adrian Sheppard have made a mistake in their choice of movement keys - it would have been more sensible to have had left and right movement controlled by one hand, and up/down handled (sorry!) by the other, instead of using the Oric arrow keys, which for some unknown reason group left/down and right/up together.

All I can suggest is that you try this game out in your local shop before buying and leave it alone if you find that jumping the obstacles is impossible!