Sigh - who could forget Monty Mole? The original C64 hero and star of five corking collect-'em-ups, ol' Monty has in his time spawned countless clones, Jack the Nipper being one of the best. While their place in history cannot be doubted, can they hold their own in this day and age?

Right, let's get one thing clear - the 'free badge and poster offer' on the loader finished *years* ago, we've none left, they're all gone, we've run out completely, okay? Why Kixx insisted on retaining the original loading screen is beyond me, but don't send an SAR to us as it suggests - you'll only be disappointed.

Now we've got that sorted out, let's have a look at the game. Monty On The Run has our burrowing buddy escape from the nick, where he was uncereoniously deposited at the end of his first adventure, Wanted: Monty Mole. Your task is to help him do a Robby Biggs and high-tail it out of the country.

Unless you've just spent a long spell in the clink yourself, you'll know exactly what to expect from a Monty game. Colourful, exciting platform action with oodles of humour! Scoring 90% way back in issue 6, it doesn't look as innovative in this day and age, but then it doesn't cost the best part of eight quid either!

A classic from the heyday of 8-bit computing that hasn't really dated since then.

Following his mischievous misdeeds in his last adventure. Britain's most terrible toddler is put on a plane and deported to Australia. Life in the land that produced Neighbours and Rolf Harris is too dreadful to contemplate, so he steals a parachute and bails out over the African jungle - so begins Jack's second epic, Coconut Capers.

Jack's nappy can hold two objects (neither of which is brown and squidgy): a weapon for blowing away the various jungle creatures that seem to take exception to your uninvited presence (no Tarzan-like kinship here), and a 'naughty' object with which you carry out your various atrocities.

Although the game is now three years old, its polished production means the game has dated very little. It runs quickly, collision detection is spot-on, and a well-planned layout makes it a must for mappers.

After his altercations with the miners and the prison authorities, Monty feels he needs a holiday. Never one to do things by halves, he decides to buy a Greek island. But first he needs the money!

Auf Wiedersehen Monty is a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up with... oh all right, it's another platforms-and-ladders collect-'em-up with a few puzzles thrown in for good measure. Monty must explore the underground caverns, collecting money and objects as he goes, while looking out for the weird and indescrible baddies that stand in his way. We're not told where these caverns are, which is a pity - if I knew where I could find bundles of loot lying around in heaps, I'd tell Steve what I really think of him and high-tail it over there!

As with all Monty games, the layout is superb - you have to keep playing to get just one screen further than last time. I especially liked the way score-ups and money icons are picked up automatically on contact. On the minus side, some of the problems are a little obscure, and maybe the difficulty level is set just a tad too high.

Multimixx 5 is more than just a games compilation, it's a slice of C64 history. With too many software houses serving up clones of copies with a new film/TV/celebrity licence tagged on for good measure, it's great to remember what real home computer releases should be like. If you haven't got any of these games already, Multimixx 5 is an essential purchase.