Monkey is a children's adventure based on the same Chinese story as the popular television series. The text of the story is available both on-screen and in the accompanying documentation. The attractively presented package is obviously designed for school use with separate bookleys for teacher and pupils. The program itself is delightfully presented and my own children (aged between 8 and 12) were more than willing to test it out - indeed they couldn't be dragged away until they had solved it. However, I couldn't really recommend it as a good buy for home use since the game doesn't really last long enough for one individual to justify the purchase price.

A strong feature of the game is the use of a number of screens attractively drawn with Mode 7 graphics. Actually, it's not really an adventure in the orthodox sense and provides only limited options for moving around locations. In general one is presented with questions to answer and a variety of puzzles to solve which then take you on to a new place - or throw you back to the beginning if you fail. Clues and solutions are provided but appropriately divided in the pupils' and teacher's versions of the documentation.

The educational value of this kind of software is hard to assess. The problem-solving may be of some value but the main benefit probably lies in attracting younger children towards interaction with the micro, and convincing them that it can be a lot of fun.

David Glew