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A new game from a new company, and if Interdisc's future releases are as good as Hercules then we'll certainly be hearing a lot more about them.

Hercules is a multi-screen platform game where you run, jump, and climb about the screen to reach your objective. Although the gameplay sounds familiar, it has a number of improvements on the standard recipe. It's also very difficult to play, but once you get the hang of it you'll find it difficult to stop.

There are 50 different screens and 12 different tasks to perform. The 50 screens are divided unequally between the tasks, with one or two having only two screens and some of the trickier ones having as many as six.

The first big difference about Hercules is the way you play. Every time you lose a life you're transported at random to another screen and another task.

The benefit of this 'Random Access Principle' is that you get to see most (but not all) of the game without having to battle your way through from the beginning.

The second big difference is in the actual gameplay itself. Before you start on a task, the screen flashes up an introduction explaining your objective in this particular part of the game. It doesn't, incidentally, tell you how many screens there are for that task or how to accomplish it.

Once you enter a screen you have to move very fast indeed, because the platform you are standing on bursts into flames within a few seconds! This puts a lot of pressure on the player and when you're just starting the game it can be a bit discouraging. You keep losing lives and flashing from screen to screen without getting anywhere.

Once you start to get the hang of the different tasks, however, this feature adds excitement rather than frustration to the game.

There's a great sense of humour in Hercules. Some of the screens you come across look absolutely impossible. It's only when you deliberately try committing suicide that you discover that parts of the display are missing! Life-saving platforms suddenly appear in mid-air to save you from certain death. But don't get too cocky - some of the platforms disappear just when you're stepping onto them. All very dicey - and very exciting.

Most screens involve similar hazards. Sprites move up and down blocking your path. Fat spiders squat down before you and are fatal to touch. Ropes dangle invitingly for you to climb up - and sometimes snap disconcertingly when you grab hold of them.

Hercules is a game that requires perseverance and patience to get started, but it's well worth the effort. For once, a classic hero has inspired a classic game.