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Living in an uncaring concrete jungle has turned the inhabitants of the city of Metropolis into victims of society who compete desperately for living-space.

You, as Moonboots, have been unfortunate enough to find yourself stranded in the city and now begin the search for the spacecraft which will take you away from it all.

Metropolis is a flick-screen arcade adventure in which Moonboots uses objects he finds to aid his exploration of, and eventual escape from the city. When carrying the correct objects, Moonboots can change to one of his alter egos - Zoid the Droid, Super Spy, and the Mad Monk. You are given three lives and a life is lost when all your energy is depleted.

So much of the time spent playing Metropolis is taken up just taking objects from the same locations that I found myself bored witless within a very short time. Graphically the game is awful - simplistic, Spectrumesque sprites wander around bland backdrops.

It's almost as if this piece of software has fallen through some sort of time warp, because it isn't of the standard I would expect to see today, even in budget releases. If you aren't a fan of the genre Metropolis has nothing to convert you, and even hardened arcade adventurers may find it pretty poor fare.

This is in the Pyjamarama vein, and to be honest, I can't say the genre is one of my favourites. Picking up items then trying to find logical connections between them is only reasonably good fun, even if the graphics and sound are competent, but when such action is bound to the poor aesthetic qualities of Metropolis, my level of interest doesn't stay high for long.

I did persevere, though, and from what I saw of the game, I think I can safely say that anyone who enjoys this sort of arcade adventure should find the thinking required for progression sufficiently stimulating to make it worth a couple of pounds.

Presentation 44%
Nothing remarkable, bar some on-screen instructions.

Graphics 40%
Simple single colour sprites and similar backgrounds.

Sound 34%
Reasonable spot effects but no music.

Hookability 47%
An interesting game, but only if Pyjamarama is your thing.

Lastability 60%
Lots of puzzle solving, albeit of a repetitive nature.

Overall 42%
A game for very thirsty arcade-adventurers.