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I haven't seen anything from Amstrad publisher Ego-trip before, but a new game for the Amstrad CPC is always welcome, and Jewel Warehouse is a surprisingly addictive puzzle/platform game which rehashes some familiar elements.

There are very few instructions for this game and, indeed, it's one of those games designed in such a way that you don't need them. It's obvious from the get-go that your aim is to collect the ten jewels from each screen, that you can stand on stripey boxes and that you will die if you fall on the spikes.

Throughout the game a sprightly little tune plays, and there's no lives system. You can retry each level as many times as you wish and, as they increase, so do the 'elements' present on them. Conveyor belts - which can leave you stranded in a section of the screen - are introduced circa screen three. Fires - which need to be put out by a collectable extinguisher - are introduced circa screen five. Disappearing platforms come later.

Jewel Warehouse is colourful and very responsive, working with cursor, joystick or the traditional (Amstrad) AZNM key controls. In many ways it's what any game should be all about: It's remarkably easy to get into and quite fun to play. The earlier screens you can dive into without any thought whilst, on later ones, you'll find yourself having to ponder over the solution before you start.

If I had one criticism, it would be that it doesn't try to do anything really "new". Retrosouls' recent Alter Ego (available for the Spectrum, Amiga and Nintendo, see MM #1393) really astonished me with a wholly new twist on the traditional platformer. This is good - but it's standard platform fare, and by no means astonishing.