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Myrtle is a 112 year old, and somewhat buxom, mermaid who has taken a fancy to Gormless Gordeon the scuba diver. But Myrtle's affections are not reciprocated by Gordon, and to get away from the watery wench he hurls himself into the briney only to become trapped in the undersea wreckage of a sunken ocean liner.

This is your big chance. Taking the role of Myrtle, your task is to explore the underwater caves and, collecting the objects that you'll need to solve various problems, locate Gordon and rescue him before his air supply runs out.

Controlling Myrtle is simple - she can swim left/right and downwards, or, if none of these controls are being used, she will start to float upwards. At the top of the screen is a beating heart which tells you how close she is to Gordon; the faster it beats, the nearer he is. But it may sometimes be necessary to swim away from him in order to locate some important object.

Swimming the salty seas alongside Myrtle are all sorts of fish, who, if they collide with her, will drain her energy level. In some ways this is similar to the old Scuba Dive game from Durell, as you have to guide your figure through the underwater landscape collecting objects and avoiding the predatory sea creatures, although the problem-solving aspects of this game add an extra element to the format.

Myrtle's energy level is indicated by a bottle of beer, and as this empties her energy gets lower until an empty bottle signifies the loss of her life. The trouble with this is that the beer bottle can empty very quickly (especially as you can sometimes collide with a fish as soon as you enter a new screen and before you've had a chance to dodge out of the way) and when this happens you don't just lose a life and then start with another.

You only get the one life, and if you lose that then it's the end of the game. You can find other bottles underwater which top up your beer supply just a bit, but I still found it ridiculously easy to lose that single life and I've lost track of how many games I've played that were over and done with in a matter of seconds.

The graphics and animation are all quite good, although Myrtle is prone to a bit of flicker at times. The playing area seems extensive and working out how to reach Gordon could well give you a challenge if only you can stay alive long enough to give it a good try.

Mermaid Madness is very well presented, and there's an enjoyable game in there somewhere, but I'm afraid that only having the one life spoilt it for me, as I soon became irritated as constantly being killed off. Not having three or four additional lives to play with seems to me to be a serious flaw (especially as it's the sort of thing that can probably be cured with a few simple POKEs). Oh, and then there's the price. With Mastertronic churning out games like Knight Tyme of just £3, £10 for Mermaid Madness is just far too expensive.