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Ghosts 'N Goblins, the smash hit game from the arcade, has finally reached the home computer. It's been worth the wait.

The plot is identical to the arcade game, and similar to a large number of programs that have emerged over the past few months. While out strolling with your girlfriend, a demonic overlord swoops down from on-high, as they do, flapping his wings and making a frightful din. Amidst the confusion, he snatches your gal - and flutters away - leaving you in considerable consternation. As it's been a rather boring day so far, you decide to go and rescue her. Chivalry is back in style.

The game plays some very peculiar music once it's loaded. The screen is presented side-on, with your little man (in armour at first) running for all he's worth left and right across a scrolling landscape. As soon as you start, you will discover that the game is far from easy; there is a positive horde of creatures just dying to drag you down into a decidedly unpleasant grave. The most prominent nasty on the first stage is the zombie, a rather sad creature when you think about it. They simply plod around, arms outstretched, hoping for a hug.

This brings up another interesting point. The first time your character gets attacked, he will be stripped of his armour. The next time and, well... one life gone. You have five men to begin with. Because each has a new suit of armour, you effectively have ten lives. This may make the game sound easy. Wrong. The creatures come at your from event possible angle, and will strike you dead without a second thought.

There are a large number of inventive touches in the game. After you lose your armour, you will be granted with a short period of invincibility. This is pretty vital, as it gives you a chance to escape a particularly ferocious attack. There's not much point having the protection of armour if you get killed as soon as you lose it!

There are a wide variety of creatures which will attack you. There are (deep breath) zombies, gremlins, ogres, demons, venus fly-traps, birds, little funny blue things that spin around, ghosts and flying goblins. Also, there are a number of static problems; huge pits in the earth are numerous. There is also a small bridge to cross. Not much of a problem, until the fire leaps out from below and cooks you alive!

The tombstones mentioned earlier literally litter the scene. You can't move for more than a few feet before one of the damned things pop up and you have to jump over it. The problem is, they're whacking great things. On the Spectrum version, things aren't too bad. You can fly through the air with minimal effort. Commodore owners, though, have a slightly more difficult time of things. I found it very difficult to clear the stones, invariably getting caught pressed up against one, unable to jump forward. In this situation, it's necessary to back up a little (usually involving walking through the very people you are trying to avoid).

The game has a number of levels, each with a different backdrop such as a town adjoining an ice palace and the initial graveyard scene. The ogres will appear at the end of each section, in an attempt to prevent your progress, usually by stomping on your brains. As this is far from desirable, you have to try and fell this rather enormous foe before he can get his feet near you. This is the most tricky part of the game. Unless you cheat...

The game involves a good deal of concentration if you hope to get anywhere. Each time you lose a life, your man will be thrown back to the last "marker" that the programmer has included - you don't go all the way back to the start of a level if you have progressed a fair way into it.

The actual physical action required to play the game is not too extensive. But you will have to improve on your reactions.

After some time playing the game, you will find yourself hopelessly addicted and very, very determined to beat the blasted thing. Arcade conversions have built a reputation as being a bit naff. Ghosts 'N Goblins should change things. The programmers, Keith Burkhill for the Spectrum version, and Chris Butler on the Commodore, have made stout efforts to produce games that are not merely satisfactory, but surpass that level.

The scrolling on the C64 and Spectrum has to be admired. Commodore owners may believe that this goes without saying, after seeing the quality of Uridium. Spectrum users may be surprised to hear, though that their version is very nearly up to the same level.

The Amstrad version of the game isn't really up to the quality of the others. The graphics are colourful, but they are just too flickery to watch. For some reason, you play on a magnified area of the screen, too. This results in everything being blown up. This makes for even more blocky pictures.

Music on this version is disappointing too. It's quite good the first time round, but as the tune is extremely short, and repeats itself ad nauseam during play, I was glad to have a volume control on the machine.

Ghosts 'N Goblins is the game to buy for your C64 or Spectrum.