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Monty has broken out of jail and is now on the run. Elated by his new found freedom, he insists on turning somersaults when he jumps as he makes his way through a world of platforms and problems.

For those who missed the first part of Monty's trials and tribulations, Monty is a mole who always seems to be in trouble. This new adventure is streets ahead of its predecessor with the best music track that I've heard come from my Commodore in a long time.

As platform games go, this has not introduced any problems which I haven't seen in some shape or form elsewhere and yet I found it to be an exceptional game carried along by its amusing animation and the sound.

This feeling of mine probably results from the total integration of sound and vision. The music has a strong rhythm which urges you to push Monty along at a dangerously fast pace. I even found myself joining in with the rhythm by synchronising the sound effect of Monty picking up an object with the beat of the tune.

The number of objects seem to be limitless in their variety but our hero seems mainly to be interested in the gold pieces scattered around liberally.

Some of the objects encountered can help Monty in his odyssey, others hinder and the remainder are downright lethal. For example, after struggling through a room fraught with all manner of unspeakable problems, I attempted to collect a rather desirable object which blew up in my face (well Monty's actually) splattering another of my precious six lives across the screen.

At certain points in the game Monty reaches an impasse which requires special technological aids to enable him to continue. At the foot of the opening screen is an array of 21 useful objects, five of which Monty can take with him on his travels. These include such things as a hand grenade, a hammer, a gun and a floppy disk (I wonder what that could be for?) Some slightly more esoteric items are also present whose usefulness is not immediately apparent, such as a barrel of rum and a passport. If your Monty is unfortunate enough not to have the correct item to hand when the need arises, your only recourse is to make a mental note of the item most likely to help, reset the game and start again.

Many of the situations which Monty is presented with seem impossible to overcome but, as usual with this kind of game, the answer is in timing and bravado.

As a seasoned reviewer of platform games which only raise a yawn from me in response, I have to say that this little masterpiece made me sit up and take notice from the beginning and held me until Monty's inevitable demise (I did say seasoned and not successful).