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Imagica is a groovy kind of place. Resting peacefully in a corner of the Baltic Sea, all the inhabitants have to worry about is organic farming, measuring rainfall, and which pair of sandals to wear in the morning. Four Elders guard the peace and general contentment by ruling fair and just kingdoms. It's a good scene, man.

That is until an evil wizard known as Wicked Wainwright sets up shop in the supposedly dormant volcano in the north of the island. Being a bad sort, he wants the lot, the land, the people, and all the stocks of goat's cheese. In direct contradiction of all conventions, Wainy kidnaps the Elders, sealing them in four crystals. To deal with the people, the volcano is stoked with noxious chemicals to pollute their minds and place them under his control. Bummer.

By chance, an apprentice wizard, Flink, escaped the fumes of confusion, leaving him as the last hope of the people. Can young Flink find the four crystals and defeat Wainwright to save his people?

Developed by two European programmers, Flink combines the Teutonic penchant for fairy tales with platform-puzzling action.

Guide Flink through his smog-laden world to defeat Wizard Wainwright, find the four imprisoned Elders and put an end to the pollution.

Man cannot survive on stomp and slide attacks alone. As Flink progresses through his adventure, he collects, or is given scrolls containing the recipes to knock up the spells. The ingredients have to be found in chests or stolen from villagers. Sometimes the recipes are complete; other times it takes a bit of trial and error to work out the correct formula. Mind you, watch that magic meter!

1. Quick Grow
   Speeds up the growth rate of a plant, usually offering a lift up to a bonus chest.
2. Shrink
   A vital spell that allows the user to access extremely small places. Essential to Flink's success, see if you can find where.
3. Demon
   Materialises a helpful little devil, not much good initially, but upgradable to a real bonus.
4. Ghost Another essential spell, needed to enter the metaphysical world.
5. Spirit Bomb
   Imagica's equivalent of Semtex; blasts your enemies to smithereens.
6. Dust Devil
   No, it's not a poxy little vacuum for doing the stairs! Blow foes off the platforms with mini tornadoes.

In a 'ten a penny' platform game market, the product has to stand out from the rest of the crowd, and I was greatly impressed by Flink's contribution to the genre in terms of design and look.

The European folklorey style lends itself to the format and the Megadrive's capabilities. However, I was not quite so impressed by the gameplay, because there's nothing worst than a slow platformer. The character sprite of Flink is extremely sluggish, and takes an age to get moving, making it annoyingly difficult to catch up with goodies and escape bosses.

On the subject of bosses, they are very thin on the ground, offering little reward after a painstaking attack pattern. The foundations are there, but without enough material to make this truly palatial.

Flink is a comely beast, every leaf, twig and rocky outcrop capturing the feel of a Grimm fairy tale, frankly a Black Forest gateux of Sara Lee proportions.

And behind the foliage lies a well-thought-out and cerebral platform game. Rather than the climaxes and outrages of platform games like Sparkster and Dynamite Headdy, Flink is a collection of minor moments. It's satisfying but hardly inspiring gameplay, compounded by Flink having a dose of the skids (slipping off platforms) and not being able to move particularly quickly.

In some ways, this is a Clarks' Commando of a game: sturdy and made to last (your parents would approve) but neither fashionable nor flashy - and let's face it, we'd all prefer to have winkle pickers.

Graphics 84%
P. Imaginative sprite and backdrop design with a distinctive European flavour.

Sound 81%
P. Good solid FX fitting to the action.
N. The music remains pretty much the same throughout the entire game.

Playability 75%
P. Nice mixture of puzzles and action.
N. The character takes too long to speed up, resulting in frustrating deaths.

Lastability 80%
P. Plenty of levels and hidden sections lengthened by a tough challenge.
N. With infinite continues on Practice mode, it's far too easy to progress.

Value For Money 78%
P. A solid platform adventure for a reasonable price.

Overall 78%
A platformer distinctly lacking in surprises and pace, made palatable by the novel and meticulous design.