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The classic game starring the miner who resembles Hitler in shorts makes an appearance on the BBC! For those still not familiar with it, the game involves running through vast numbers of rooms collecting keys in order to get into more rooms. The little bugger seems to have travelled well, as have the multitude of lunatic objects set poised to bar his way to wherever it is he is trying to get to.

The notion that the mind behind this spent three months in a spin dryer prior to coding is one worth subscribing to. Penguins, telephones, hormed gorillas (to name but a few!) all take turns to bring our hero a step closer to the size nine D.M., awaiting him after he has been bitten, battered, stung or generally mangled three times on the trot.

And they do it very smoothly and with great detail. It's nice to see they've chosen the Mode 1 screen display, a pig to animate characters on but twice the detail and worth the effort.

Manic Miner is an unforgiving game on any machine. One step in the wrong direction results in instant death and it takes some time to develop a suitable tactical style. Once you've been totally annihilated for the three millionth time halfway through the first screen things begin to click and you know you're competent enough to reach a few of the other umpteen screens.