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In this latest effort from Imagine and Konami, you are Mikie, an American High School Romeo whose sole aim in life is to get a message to his girlfriend. Yes, honest. In the process, he has to avoid a manic teacher, a manic janitor, a manic chef - everyone at this school seems to be a manic - not to mention (wait for it!) dancing cheerleaders, with their literally stunning kisses! Tacky, huh?

Needless to say, it's all an excuse for just another arcade game, with the peculiar denizens of an American school standing in for the usual aliens, Mikie the equivalent of the intrepid star fleet captain, and hearts - yes, hearts! - standing in for jewels, weapons, fuel or whatever you usually go around collecting in an arcade adventure. You can even zap your manic companions by chucking chickens and basket balls at them.

You piece together your message - I'm thankful to say I didn't get far enough to find out what they complete message is - by collecting these hearts lying around, "hip-zapping" other kids out the way if need be.

You move from classroom to locker room, canteen to gym, and finally to the schoolyard where you finally deliver the message. If you've survived the maniacs, whose touch is lethal.

OK, so it's original. The graphics aren't much - a bit blocky and sluggish and you can see through the characters. The background music is Hard Day's Night (and boy, it sure is), and there's a bug in the high score table, which sometimes seizes up for a while. Probably sickened by the sight of Mikie making such a fool of himself. Bring on the aliens, that's what I say.