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At last Frak is here and Electron owners need be envious no longer of their BBC Micro-owning friends.

Basically Frak by Orlando is a multi-screen ladders and levels game. However the superb graphics make it stand out from the crowd. The main character, which you control, is a large caveman, complete with animal skin clothing, big belly and stubbly chin. The aim is to collect all the objects - diamonds, keys and light bulbs - scattered about the screen. This involves climbing ropes and ladders and jumping from one platform to another.

The playing area is wider than the screen and when you get near the edge the screen scrolls rapidly sideways. This is a hardware scroll and since the Electron can only scroll a minimum of 64 bytes at a time it's more like a jump than a scroll. However you get used to it after a few games.

If this were all you had to do it would be an easy game. But as you progress there are three types of monster to be disposed of; Scrubblies, Hooters and Poglets. They don't move but nevertheless they get in your way. Fortunately, this caveman is rather adept with a yo-yo. Don't ask me what a caveman is doing with a yo-yo. I haven't a clue. It's useful for bopping nasties, though.

As well as bashing monsters you have to dodge balloons which float up the screen and daggers which fly diagonally down. With a bit of practice these can also be yo-yoed.

As a bonus there's a screen designer which enables you to edit any of the existing screens or completely design your own from scratch. You can add platforms, crystals, monsters, light bulbs and so on. It can be tested at any stage so if it's not quite right you can easily alter it. The finished screens can be saved to tape and loaded back next time.

The original BBC Frak is in Mode 1, the Electron version has been converted to Mode 4. Although it's lost a bit of colour the graphics actually seem better. The game is very slightly faster and less flickery.

Frak is one of the classics on the BBC Micro and is destined to be one of the classics on the Electron. No games collection will be complete without it, so start saving up now.

Roland Waddilove