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At last, after a series of naff games based on naff TV series (which were mainly American, or is that just a coincidence?) we get a good game based on an excellent series.

Playing the part of Arthur Daley, you begin with £2000, an assortment of goods and 14 days in which to make as much money as you can by wheeling and dealing with these and any others that you pick up along the way. You'll meet a number of dealers, and can either approach them to flog a few corsets or some such item, or they will make the first approach and try to sell you something. The dealers shop and other locations are presented in much the same way as in a graphic adventure, as is your text input, but the dealers' faces are excellently animated as their words appear on screen.

Haggling is all part of the fun when you're dealing, but watch out for faulty goods or selling stolen gear, or you may get your collar felt by the Old Bill, in the form of Inspector Chisholm.

The text input is fairly friendly, and accepts all sorts of phrases. I told one dealer to "sod off" only to see a great list fly out of the screen and flatten me.

If I had to categorize Minder, I would call it a business simulation of sorts, though vastly richer and more enjoyable than most of that rather dry breed of game.

K.C.