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This was my first encounter with Felix and the snakes-and-ladders type of arcade game, and I found it very enjoyable. The aim of the game is to score as many points as possible, and there are a number of ways to do it.

The scene is a factory where a number of conveyor belts, at different levels on the screen, are connected by tunnels. Felix has to run round the factory collecting letters, oxygen cylinders, levers and cans of insecticide. The latter idea is essential for survival, as also running around the factory are weevils who can only be killed by a spray of insecticide. This has to be administered directly to the weevil, so not only is close combat called for but you also have to make sure that Felix is pointing the right way.

To make things a little more difficult the touch of a weevil is fatal, as is a blow from one of the ball-bearings which are dropped onto the top-most belt, and proceed along the belts and down the tunnels until they reach the bottom of the screen.

Whilst Felix is vulnerable to the ball-bearings, the weevils are not. One protection against the ball-bearings, apart from avoiding them is, after the "belt reverse lever" has been collected, to reverse the direction of the belts, hopefully moving the ball-bearings away from Felix.

Points are scored for collecting the items and letters, with a bonus for collecting all the five letters which spell BONUS. Killing a weevil earns 500 points, which is doubled to 1,000 if you get it after it has mutated into a super-weevil. This moves a lot faster and can quite easily catch you unawares.

The graphics are very good with smooth movement in all directions. Control is only through the keyboard as there are too many options to implement on a joystick. In fact I found that there were too many keys to be used. Apart from the four direction keys, Z, X, *, ?, RETURN sprays the insecticide, SHIFT reverses the belts and SHIFT LOCK is a panic button. This can be used once per life to give Felix temporary immunity from both weevils and ball-bearings. The problem is that I kept on forgetting to use it.

Having successfully disposed of the pursuing weevils Felix progresses to a second screen. Here the principles are the same but the belt/tunnel pattern is different and there are three pursuing weevils where there are only two on the first screen.

If there are any more screens I failed to get on to them, but I am improving and if only I can remember the panic button I might yet find out.

Dave ReederDavid Abbott