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Coleco owners are very fortunate where climbing games are concerned in that the king of them all comes free when you buy your machine – the one and only Donkey Kong. It could be argued that there is no need for anyone to launch another climbing game because of Donkey Kong. That's not an opinion I agree with as climbing games are great fun and it's nice to have a little variety – even if it is within one fairly limited game category.

Comparisons with Donkey Kong are difficult to avoid and, fortunately for Microfun, their Miner 2049'er holds up very well.

You play the part of Bounty Bob who has followed Yukon Yohan into an abandoned uranium mine. Before you can capture Yohan, you have to climb your way through 11 levels of action.

Screen one is pretty simple - you merely run along the platforms, jumping over a few nasties and collecting the various items left behind by previous prospectors.

By the time you get to the last screen, you will have survived a radio-active pool, the dangerous lifts and even been fired through the air from a cannon.

If this doesn't sound difficult enough for you, then don't despair as there is an added problem. As you climb, you are racing against the clock. If you won't walk on every section of each platform – changing their colour as you walk on them - then you will die.

OK, so you want a comparison with Donkey Kong and I'm not going to dodge one – for my money this is a better game than Kong. The graphics are not as pretty and it doesn't have any cute jingles, but the game itself is much more challenging. You really have to think about the best way to tackle some of these screens and, with 11 as opposed to Kong's three screens, it all adds up to a better game.

Miner 2049'er is available now at £29.95.

An extremely addictive climbing game. It'll take you a while to crack this one and you certainly won't want to stop playing until you have succeeded.