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There's a burning skyscraper down on Arcadesville's main street, and the fire is spreading to the neighbouring blocks.

The player takes control of a firefighter who is sent to put out the blaze. The hero starts at the base of the first tower equipped only with a fire-resistant suit, jet-pack and water cannon, and climbs up the vertically scrolling building.

Women and dogs are trapped in the conflagration, and are rescued when touched, the hero supplying them with a parachute so they may float to safety. He also extinguishes fires with his cannot, revealing either a cash bonus or a bonus icon. These endow him with the ability to fire horizontally, giving added protection, or initiate his jet-pack, blasting him up the building and saving precious time.

As he climbs, the fireman avoids a continuous stream of debris that rains down on him, and negotiates impassable areas such as flagpoles and smooth patches that give no grip. Should he be hit by an object or touch any fire, the character falls several stories and loses a life. The game ends when all his five lives are lost.

Firetrap reminds me vaguely of a game that was in the arcades a few years ago called Crazy Climber. I soon found that great fun was to be had leaping around the skyscraper in typical Spiderman style, dodging objects and avoiding the sneaky bursts of blame that threaten to singe his backside.

Graphically the game is pretty decent, with a chunky fireman clambering around on a very solid-looking skyscraper. Sound isn't much to write home about though, with a rather weedy but bearable tune playing throughout.

Firetrap is more lukewarm than red-hot, but it's fun and that's what counts.

This has to be one of the most obscure arcade conversions to appear this year (I for one have never seen it!), but nevertheless Electric Dreams have a reasonable game on their hands.

It's by no means brilliant, but the simple gameplay is immediately endearing and it has a strangely addictive quality.

Graphically the game is pretty poor, having blocky sprites and jerky scrolling. The buildings are also laughably bad, since it often appears that large sections of the tower and supported by the merest strips of architecture!

Control of the firefighter is responsive to the point of being over-sensitive, but it's reasonably precise and quite comfortable. Nothing to go overboard about, but a fun game nonetheless.

The scenario is really weird, with the sole fireman climbing a flaming building to give dogs and women parachutes so they can safely jump to earth! Perhaps that's the way they do it in Japan...

The objects that fall from above are pretty weird too - grand pianos, cars and the like - fires certainly have a strange effect on things!

The action is both hectic and challenging, and remains thoroughly enjoyable - even though it is rather repetitive. Sometimes it's a little frustrating when fires break out beneath the fireman and he falls off, but overall Firetrap is great.

The rubbish graphics and sound are offputting, but if you like your action a little off-beat, try it out!

Presentation 61% A nicely animated title screen, but no special options or features.

Graphics 48% Blocky graphics, and sparse animation give the game a rather rough and ready appearance.

Sound 51% A passable title tune is the highlight of an otherwise poor selection of noises.

Hookability 79% Initially challenging, and the fairly unusual game design sustains interest.

Lastability 70% After a couple of skyscrapers, it all starts to look a bit familiar, but oddly enough, the game remains enjoyable.

Overall 74% Looks and sounds awful, but is surprisingly entertaining.