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Professor Mariarti's got a problem. Everyone things he's a screaming loon, and should be locked up. Even the Lord Mayor agrees, and has sent the Prof a letter, stating that if all of his insane machines are not turned off within one week, he'll be put in a straitjacket and carted off to the nearest nuthouse.

What this entails is getting the Prof around five massive laboratories, (labelled chemical research, space rocket development, computer science, biological observations and - ooh-weeee-ooh - The Mystery Lab) collecting sundry items and using them in the correct locations to shut down all the rogue equipment.

The more lively items of lab equipment attempt to stop you in your tracks, but they can be stunned or destroyed with just a few shots from the Prof's zapstick. Collect tokens along the way and you can buy more powerful weapons from the tool lockers scattered about the labs.

If the Prof's successful in shutting down all of his equipment, he'll be free to live a life of peace in a country cottage with roses around the door. If not, well, it's 20 years in a padded cell with a striped view and lots of tranquilizing injections in the rump.

As far as platform games go, this ranks as one of the prettiest around, and definitely ranks as one of the most frustrating! The graphics are really bright and colourful, with some excellent animation, and the sound is an amusing mixture of squeaks, boings and pings.

As far as the gameplay goes, however, Mad Professor Mariarti is reminiscent of Terramex, Thunderbirds and about almost every other platform game that Teque (the programming arm of Krysalis) have done in the past - although it has to be said that this is the best of their bunch.

The sheer scale of the game is enormous and the basic mechanics work well, but the connections between the items and the puzzles are pretty obscure, so be prepared to spend a lot of time trekking about, experimenting with different objects in different locations.

If you like this kind of game you'll undoubtedly enjoy Mariarti to the max, but those of you more used to blasting than brainwork might well find you've ripped most of the hair off the cat before it's complete!