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The wizard on the cover of Magic Meanies looks as if he belongs to an adventure game. In fact, he's yet another graduate of the Pac-Man-Horace academy, in yet another variation of the maze game.

As Meltec the Wizard you're on a screen liberally sprinkled with lead, which you must collect, and Meanies, which you must avoid. A do-it-yourself maze emerges as your passage cuts a path through the brilliant green screen, and along such paths the Meanies wander.

The object is to collect all the lead and a roaming bunch of cherries. Apples are embedded in the screen, and will fall vertically down any paths cut. By passing beneath an apple with a Meanie on your tail, you can block his path as the apple drops down.

Another way of dealing with Meanies is to zap them with crystal balls, which are floated lugubriously, rather than fired, in the direction of motion.

The game has nine skill levels, each faster, and a succession of screens, all fairly similar but with successively more Meanies. If you don't have a Kempston joystick, a convenient choice of keyboard keys has been made, and all the action happens to the accompaniment of the can-can dance music.

Clearly, this engaging music is entirely irrelevant to the concept of the game, as is the mumbo jumbo about wizards, but it's not a bad brew that results.