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Bounty Bob is the hero of Tigervision's smash-hit climbing game - Miner 2049:er.

The scenario has our hero mining a radioactive mine in the year 2049. H's version of the game popular among Atari micro owners and was a big hit in the States. It currently stands at number six in our computer charts.

You must help him stake his claim in each of the three mines which are represented as different screens in the game.

In order to claim a mine, Bob has to walk along all the platforms colouring them in as he walks.

To make things more difficult the mines are inhabited by mutant organisms who exist on a diet of prospectors. Also scattered throughout the mines are certain articles left behind by earlier prospectors. These can be picked up to score bonus points and also enable you to kill the organisms (Pacman-like) by making contact with them for a few brief seconds.

Each mine has two disused shafts which can be used to slide down by our hero but check first to make sure there are no mutants lurking at the bottom.

I found the game fun and playable, but annoyingly slow. Bob's response to the joystick was extremely sluggish. I tested the game with three different joysticks and found the same lack of response.

Miner shares one criticism with all climbing games and that is that once you have mastered a screen there is not much challenge left in the game for you. In an attempt to give the game a more lasting challenge Tigervision have added a clock so that players can race each other to claim the mine.

An above average climbing game and certainly better than the top-selling Donkey Kong. £27.85 from London-based Prism.

One of the better climbing games for the Atari VCS.