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This is one of the Spanish games from Ventamatic marketed in Britain through Unique. Jump actually sees a somewhat inappropriate name for this particular game - Climb or fall might have been more accurate. This is actually a Spectrum version of the arcade machine game known as "Crazy Climber".

Your climber is standing at the bottom of a tower block six windows wide. He automatically climbs up the front door, and after that, you're on your own. The object is to get to the top. Unfortunately all the rooms are occupied by what the inlay refers to as apes but more resemble angry-looking versions of BBC deejay John Peel wearing cans on his head.

Windows which are blank are safe, especially if the blue blinds are down, but any window with an 'ape appearing is bad news. When fully aroused, this violent species actually hurls potted plants down on our doughty climber, plunging him to his death.

Halfway up, the building has no windows in the centre, forcing you to climb on either the left or the right side. Further up still there is a giant ape blocking your path. Once at the top a tune is played and you are taken to the foot of another block with inhabitants throwing different objects at you.

Jump has very attractive and well-designed graphics. Your climber is of a large size with a well-moving arms and legs, but here lies the first problem. The control key number size, a left and a right movement, and then one for each of his arms and legs. This seems a bit of a fistful to cope with and makes playing the game very hard.

Nevertheless, it has addictivity because you always seem to want one more go to see what happens next as the buildings do change quite a bit as you climb them.

A fairly good game copied from the arcade original. The apes resemble angry businessmen, but your climber is very detailed right down to his woolly climbing jumper and shiny, manageable hair.

The graphics generally are above average and scroll nicely, although they can be a little jerky at times. As far as I know, this is the only game of its type on the market, even though certain things are missing like the bird and the helicopter at the end, it's still a good copy of the original and very playable.

Jump has a nice front end, with horizontal scrolling letters forming the word JUMP passing behind the copyright details. The game is fun but very frustrating because I think the level of difficulty is a bit too high. It might have been more addictive, rather than less, if there had been fewer apes, and sometimes you don't stand a chance of getting out of the way of falling pots at all.

In ths respect, the arms and legs movement could be easier to control although with a programmable joystick interface I found I could settle for only moving one arm and a leg with an up/down configuration, while using left and right for sideways movement. Quite original for the Spectrum, and I think lots of people will find it addictive once the control factor is mastered.

Control Keys: 5/8 left/right, left/right arm, T/U left/right leg
Joystick: None
Keyboard Play: Rather weird positions but they work well once mastered
Use of Colour: Good
Graphics: Large, detailed, generally good
Sound: Simple tune with some effects during play
Skill Levels: One
Lives: 5
General Rating: A difficult arcade game which may frustrate some, but should prove addictive to those who persevere