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The Kid of the title has just woken up to the sound of jungle drums. Putting on a pair of old boxing gloves he finds in his Uncle's study... and all of a sudden he's somewhere else.

The Kid has found himself in a place comprising five different Time Zones full of platforms and pests. Kid's troubles begin in the jungle, before his journey takes him through the Ice Age, the pyramids of Egypt and the psychedelic West Coast.

Kid walks, jumps and shoots his way across ten screens in each zone. Discovering how to negotiate the moving platforms and platform arragements is only part of the problem. There are a host of bizarre beings to avoid or destroy - bouncing Ogres, big bouncing snakes, mad girls and eyeballs, to name but a few. Each screen presents a puzzle of sorts, with the answer arrived at by timely leaping, accurate shooting and a little lateral thinking.

Anyone old enough to reminisce about the 'good old days' will find it difficult to stem the flood of memories after paying the first few screens of Kid Gloves. This jolly jump 'n run romp is one of those simplistic, mentally undemanding but playable games - with some contemporary redecoration for good measure.

The scenery's colourful and sufficiently varied, and most of thee sprites have character - it's a shame the Kid's isn't more prominent. An impressive blend of AY-chip and sampled sounds complement the action, with a suitable array of sound effects and speech, ranging from the shopkeeper's welcoming "Can I help you?" to the exclamation of "Oh no!" when Kid dies.

But Kid's not as pure as tradition should be... some of its more elaborate features like the spells and extra weapons tend to tarnish the finish, and the player isn't persuaded to make the most out of what's there - replacing rather than improving features is not the answer.

Ultimately, this competent, uncomplicated entertainment lacks suitable 'rewards', which is surprising given its otherwise slick nature. But what the heck - it's game for a laugh.