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Being a bit of a girly swot, I really enjoyed school. I remember sitting on the little square of carpet listening to stories, reading to the headmaster, drinking warm milk and throwing up at lunchtime. Those were the days!

Funschool 4 takes the place of the classroom quite effectively, as long as it's played with lots of kids screaming in the background. The graphics are clear and colourful and fun throughout, and the difficulty level is just about right for most of the games. There is a basic plot that links all the games together. Sammy the Spy has to go to headquarters and pick up some instructions. From there he has to work his way through all the puzzles, make his way to Egypt and find the stolen treasures of the ancient King Raram. Let's take a look at the games...

First, Sammy has to pass his proportions test. Yep, it's the dreaded lurgy, a maths game! The first two sections should be manageable but the third one goes into fractions and it's a tad difficult. Persevere and you'll be given a secret message, which leads onto a multiple choice general knowledge bit. The next scene sees Sammy in a travel agent's answering questions about exchange rates. This is all about multiplication and division, you're allowed a calculator but you shouldn't use it too often. After every three questions that Sammy answers correctly, he'll get a bit of his disguise. Once he's all dressed up, it's off to the airport. Suss out the timetable and then get ready for the best bit!

Somehow Sammy's got hold of a plane and you've got to learn how to control it. As you fly around, you'll be told what ocean or country you're flying over. Remember these cos in the next level you have to travel to various locations in your fabby hot air balloon. You've got to do the same m a helicopter and a submarine, then you get asked questions like - fly to where the lions live. It's great fun! Pass this test and you can land your plane in Egypt. Here you have to answer loads of historical type questions about dead dudes and past events. These multiple choice questions start off quite easy as you only have to answer in centuries, it gets harder when you have to give exact years. Succeed and you're a winner. Well done!

Funschool 4 (7-11) is enjoyable and rewarding. I got quite a kick out of it when I got things right! It's also big enough to keep children occupied for quite some time. The only quibble I have with it, apart from the fact that it's a dreaded multiload, is that some of the instructions are wrong. It won't take you too long to work out what are the right keys, it's just a bit annoying.

Top quality platform fun with one of H-B's lesser-known characters. A stonker.