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Why the cover illustration for Frost Byte's got a dirty great barbarian swinging a sword round his head is anybody's guess. You actually play a rubber tube called Hickey. This tube has the conversation- stopping ability of moving end-over-end like on of those Slinky springs, as well as being able to jump, eat sweets andd fire bullets. And by gumbo you'll need all four because, if the truth be told, you're in a fair bit of a pickle. On the ice planet of Cosmia, five of your fellow Kreezers have been kidnapped, and you've got to stop their horrible captors from turning them into Slinky Pot Roasts and gobbling them up. You therefore have to 'slink' your way across the platforms of flip-screen level (one level per pal), avoiding (or shooting) the nasties and reaching your chums before you run out of Twang (which isn't a revolutionary new deodorant, just the units of Cosmian time).

Yes you guessed it, Frosty's a platform maze game. And despite its age, it's actually not at all bad. The graphics are colourful and well drawn (if a tad flickery), with varied and increasingly bizarre nasties. The sound's pretty good too with a nifty title tune. Hickey himself is one of the great all-time great cute characters - it's hard to believe a yellow tube could exude such personality, but your heart goes out to him a he plods cheerfully on, no matter what.

On the down side, Frosty's difficulty level has been pitched just the wrong side of annoying which means your timing's got to be absolutely spot-on. And sometimes you can forget which end of Hickey is which. But, all in all, if you're looking for a challenge, with some pretty meaty levels and a fair bit of strategy, then you could do a lot worse than have a nibble at this.