Adventure brought to you with a a smile can only mean one thing; you shouldn't have eaten that last forty five tubes of sherbert. Or it could mean that Dizzy is back.

Yet our local yolkel, product of the incredibly fertile minds of the Oliver brothers, is back with a vengeance on this five game compilation.

Dizzy is the type of computer game character you either love or hate. He's ultra cute (in an eggy sort of way) and in general the games are all ultra playable. However for those brought up on a diet of beat 'em ups and shoot 'em ups he's guaranteed to seem like a bit of a sissy. That said, Dizzy is likely to go down as one of the most popular characters in computer game history, a sort of UK version of Mario without the moustache and made entirely out of something that drops out of chicken's bottoms.

Dizzy Down The Rapids involves our diminutive hero in a full shell careering raftbound down a fast flowing waterway to escape from Rockwart the Troll.

The other two titles on this compilation are Panic Dizzy the toy factory caper and Kwik Snax, an entertaining Packman style game. Both of these have been out for some time as separate games and are still quite tasty - and well worth dipping your soldiers in.

Of the five games included here, three are completely new; these are Spellbound Dizzy, Dizzy Prince of the Yolkfolk and Dizzy Down The Rapids. Spellbound Dizzy and Prince Of The Yolkfolk may be standard Dizzy adventures but are really fine examples of the game. In scary and fantasy worlds (yes, there's no poll tax) you must guide Dizzy through forests and caves to rescue his friends and defeat enemies of the Yolkfolk. Playability is, as always, excellent and you'll have to scramble your brain in order to get to get through them.

Dizzy's excellent adventure has to be the best budget compilation available for the Spectrum this Christmas. It's not exactly riveting action but it will keep you played out and puzzled for a long time.

Label: Codemasters Memory: 48K/128K Price: £9.99 Tape Reviewer: Big Al Dykes

Dizzy's Excellent Adventure see the little egghead coming out of his shell and going from strength to strength with three new adventures and two well known ones. Good fun, especially for those who are already fans.