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Eugine Portcullis III (Jnr) is an uncultured American with more money than sense. He has descended on the Highlands of Scotland with plans to disassemble one of our ancient monuments and ship it back to the States, bit by bit.

His intended purchase, Shilmore Castle, has been derelict for years, but is inhabited by a handful of ghosts and two affectionate creatures named Olli and Lissa. According to the fables of the supernatural, a ghost is doomed to haunt the abode of its demise forever. However, Sir Humphrey (one of the senior ghosts) is rather attached to his Celtic homeland - so, with the help of his Olli and Lissa, he plots to scare Eugine away from Shilmore Castle for good.

Unfortunately, Sir Humphrey is getting on in ghost years and has lost the power to make himself invisible. Olli and Lissa agree to help Sir H regain this power by finding the special ingredients within a given time limit - shown at the bottom of the screen.

Sir Humphrey stands by a bubbling cauldron, shouting the name of the element he needs next, while Lissa provides moral support (plus the odd smacker as Olli successfully completes a task). Each screen is divided up into levels - and somewhere, sometimes hidden from view, is the next spell component for Olli to collect. Evil phantoms do their best to thwart the threesome's plans by generally getting in the way. Thankfully, Olli can jump to avoid them - if he touches a spook, he is flipped back to the start of the screen and loses valuable time.

When Olli gets his paws on part of the spell, he has to make his way back to the start of the screen and deliver his prize to Sir Humphrey, who then puts it in the cauldron.

The game ends if Olli doesn't make it back to the Cauldron in time. If he is successful however, he automatically flips onto the next screen... and so on, until all the elements of the invisibility spell have been collected.

This is one of those strange sort of games that looks nothing special, but is really difficult to put down once you start playing.

The objective is straightforward enough, but finishing the tasks is tricky. You wouldn't really expect this to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it's very difficult to keep cool when you're making a homeward dash and the time limit is ticking down.

Olli and Lissa is a great budget title, and if you're a couple of pound coins sitting in your pocket I'm sure that they would be quite pleased if you exchanged them for this.

I don't like this sort of platform game at all - jumping from platform to platform to... *I loathe it*! I hate waiting for a nasty to pass before I can jump... all this crucial timing infuriates me, and I despise the repetition.

Olli looks sickeningly cute, and I found it more rewarding to let him die, just to take the smile off his face. If you do like this sort of mind-numbingly boring platform game though, why don't you rush out and buy it and leave me in peace.

Olli & Lissa is one of the most compelling (and infuriating) platform games I've seen in ages - and it's only two quid. Precise timing is required throughout, and making Olli jump over the monsters is tricky (and frustrating) at first - but with a bit of practice it soon becomes second nature.

Some people hate this sort of platform game but I love it and if you feel the same, go out and get it.

Presentation 65%
Straightforward in every aspect.

Graphics 69%
Good backdrops, but simple, run-of-the-mill platform game sprites.

Sound 61%
Decent title tune, but that's about it.

Hookability 69%
Instantly playable - and infuriating with it!

Lastability 49%
Easily forgotten due to the repetitive platform action and lack of screens.

Value For Money 64%
Sensibly priced for such a dated game.

Overall 50%
Nothing special - but there's enough fun to be had for two quid.