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Welcome... to the Twilight Zone. Once more we go beyond the world we know of three-dimensions and look at the point where real becomes unreal; and the irrational becomes tangible. This time, our journey takes us to a normal surburban house. What could be lurking in the cellar? A rusty pram? Coal for the fire? What if some unclean spirit possessiong a biker' jacket and a sense of mischief decided to gatecrash your lovely home.

This is exactly what has happened to the charming Sardini family - Pop's a mafia merchant banker, Mom loves animals so much she has a wardrobe full of them. Junior is interested in nature - so he pulls the wings off butterflies. And little miss is a Take That fan, so they all deserve to have the living shinola scared out of them. Every room of their sprawling house is lavishly decorated, but their dream home has become a nightmare - blood drips from walls, and jobbies parade around the bathroom with impunity. It's all part of the Polterguy's plan to drive them out...

Haunting is a very original game concept - but draws on horror movies for inspiration.

The game plays in two phases. First, collect enough Ecto in the dungeon to reveal the exit. Then scare the family out the house by using your poltergeist powers.

Polterguy's activity starts in the underground vaults, and he often returns there. Drops of Ecto fall from the ceiling, Polterguy must move through the cellar collecting enough to reveal a glowing spot on the floor that opens the door to the Sardini's home. Sometimes a letter falls instead and picking this up adds a spell to Polterguy's (see spells). In the cellar Polterguy is vulnerable to demonic powers, with bats in coffins, claws erupting from walls and cascading skulls. If the icon of Polterguy's face shrinks to nothing, the game is over.

Polterguy arrives in the real world by interrupting the Sardini's dinner. After the chandelier falls, the family scatters throughout the house. Polterguy may go around scaring them for as long as he has Ecto power. Shown by a green bar, this reduces steadily wth time, and even more quickly as Polterguy possesses objects. When the Ecto bar is empty, Polterguy returns to the dungeon to collect more.

The aim of the game is to scare the family out of each room, and eventually the house. By possessing objects, each person gets gradually more freaked until they run out the room screaming. The reward for this is bonus Ecto. If Polterguy pursues them consistently, they'll lose their nerve and run right out the house. Once everyone has fled, Polterguy moves to their next abode.

Possessing objects is easy. From where Polterguy is standing, some objects are marked with a glowing cursor. If A is pressed, Polterguy leaps into the object, and then back out. Soon the object starts to tremble, attracting the attention of anyone in the room. When they approach something horrific happens. Possessions are either one-off events (like the shark in the fish tank) or you may have control over a poltergeist object for some time.

The overall ambience of Haunting is one of creeping horror. Each person has a fear level, shown by a picture in bottom-right corner. Starting off at 'Low', only repeated possessions gets their fear level up to 'Very High'. Certain objects work better of scaring people, and the family reacts differently, with valium-swallowing mother being easier to scare than her hardened brats.

When the family get a really bad fright, each of them reacts in a hilarious way; dropping their skirt, losing their rug or rolling about on the floor - heres a glimpse of their moments of madness.

Polterguy's spells allow him to regain his Ecto power, ward off demons in the house or given the Sardinis a super scare. The most interesting is the Zombie spell, where Polterguy gets control of a family member and uses them to scare the others.

Haunting's a completely inspired idea for a video game. The clever concept stands head and shoulders above the pile of derivative platformers that make up the majority of 'new releases'. Even better, it's original to the Megadrive, not some computer conversion.

the presentation and humour is top-notch - utterly superb graphcs and really ingenious spook effects. Add to that, the brilliant kitsch score and sampled effects and Haunting justifies itself as the best programmed game since Ecco. But the only doubtful part of it all is the gameplay itself.

Scaring is great fun, but that part of the game doesn't provide any real challenge. You can't die as such, only run out of Ecto and be forced to return to the underworld. That section is the only part that can kill you off - but it's also the dullest section by fat, and isn't much fun.

Because of this, I think Haunting won't have enough lasting appeal for 'serious' gamers, but as a family game it's "dead" good.

I can't tell you how cheesed off I am by the masses of similar games being released. That's why I thoroughly enjoyed the new EA release that is Haunting. The concept of hunting down family members and scaring the cack out of them is an utterly original concept.

The level of humour is superb. The brilliant samples, coupled with the fabulous comical effects make this a game that you'll come back to again and again until you've seen the entire game.

However, like Gus says, once you've seen the entire game, some doubt lingers as to whether you'll come back for more. As it is, if you're as bored as I am with the usual mounts of platformers and shooters, go for Haunting. Having seen this brave step EA have tken in producing something new, I implore other companies to follow their lead.

Presentation 95%
P. No game options as such, but the game is portrayed immaculately, and the control method has been effortlessly handled.

Graphics 94%
P. Brilliant! The four houses are imaginatively and lavishly decorated, stuffed with objects and most of the animated comic set-pieces are classic. The animation on the family members makes it all the more rewarding.

Sound 88%
P. A superb array of samples to suit the atmosphere.
N. The B-movie music is good too, but a bit grating, and too loud compared to the effects.

Playability 88%
P. Each house is filled with all kinds of intriguing objects, and the freedom to mess around as you wish.
N. The Haunting offers no threat to Polterguy - you can only die in the cellar section.

Lastability 81%
P. You'll return to Haunting just for the enjoyment of scaring the Sardinis.
N. Playing the weak underworld section is a chore, but provides the most challenging part of it all. Haunting's too easy.

Overall 86%
A beautifully crafted piece of Megadrive software with just the right balance of action and adventure to satisfy all needs.