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While loading Frankenstein I took some time to read the inlay. Quite usual behaviour really, the sort of thing most people do if they haven't experienced a game before, Something that immediately caught my attention was the astounding similarity between the pictire of Frank on the cover, and our very own Mark Caswell. Feeling slightly puzzled by this I continued my perusal of the instructions. It turns out that the Baron is short of certain body parts (also a bit like Mark!) which are essential if the experiment's to run smoothly.

So like people in power everywhere he delegates the task of collecting the necessary bits to a servant - the faithful but dim hunchback, Egor. He's an obedient kind of fellow, and after being kicked out of the castle by his master he sets about his task with a determination unusual for someone with such a cowardly disposition.

The game begins with an animated sequence showing the Baron stomping about his laboratory, setting up the experiment. Turning to Egor he requests more body parts and, to accentuate the urgency required, he physically hurls our hunchbacked hero from the top of his castle into the graveyard below where the game begins.

The first thing you notice is that our Egor has no weapons - he has to rely solely on his limited athletic ability to negotiate the many platforms, and dodge the terrifying things that patrol the six game areas. Rather than losing a life when he comes into contact with a creature, Egor merely becomes more frightened until, when the bar representing his fear level reaches its limit, he screams and pops his clogs (something I can identify with after seeing my caricature, as created by the evil hand of our Art Editor).

In this flick-screen platform extravaganza, Egor's first priority is to collect the bodies conveniently littered around the many screens, then find a way back up to the top of the tower where his master impatiently awaits. On his travels he passes through the tower vaults (unpleasant), local village (worse than Ludlow), Baron Frankenstein's Castle (tasteless decor), Black Forest (well, more green than black), Graveyard (dead dudes) and The Morgue (Spectrum Fan Club offices). Now the local populace are hardly pleasant, as (and you may notice this very quickly) they all seem to take the form of disembodied eyes, bouncing skulls and Steve in a cameo role as The Village Drunk, among others.

The graphics are clear and well defined with some excellent backgrounds, while the sound is suitably atmospheric. However, there are a few problems that could hamper your enjoyment.

The most important is the 'monkey' thing. On the stairs in certain parts of the game is a solitary creature that closely resembles a red monkey. If at any point you come into contact with it you lose a life immediately and are moved a few steps back. Which is all fair and well - assume the purpose of this is to block off certain routes to force the gameplayer to explore more thoroughly. The problem arises when you fall from a screen above and land on 'monkey features': wham bam, every single life lost! - smacked bums all round and general loss of brownie points.

Secondly, I had negotiated the entire map within my first four attempts. Not to say that the map is too small; quite the opposite, in fact. I just feel a game of this genre needs a quota of well-hidden rooms to add a little interest.

Despite these flaws, I like the game. If you're not a great lover of platform games, it could be a wee bit tedious. It'd be a shame if you didn't at least try it out, though.

Presentation 79%
Good introductory sequence, no multi-load (Shock!)

Graphics 65%
Serve their purpose well, but dated in appearance.

Sound 86%
Excellent atmosphere spot FX; interesting tunes.

Hookability 69%
This could become very tedious indeed...

Lastability 64%
...and thus leaving very little long-term appeal.

Overall 66%