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On the planet of Mechworld, all life is completely automated - even the inhabitants are machines. For many years the mighty computer systems used on Mechworld have theorised about the possibility of organic life and now, deep in the mechlabs, the Machine Sorcerer Wardlock has made their dream a reality.

Incarcerated in his labs are Solo the Syntleman, a synthetic humanoid, and Nejo, a humanoid baby. Solo has realised that as the result of a laboratory experiment, he and Nejo are doomed to remain under examination in the mechlabs until they die.

In order to gain their freedom, Solo has devised a plan to distract the Sorcerer by feeding confusing data into his terminals, thereby disabling his security systems. He and Nejo may then make good their escape, and attempt to find other organic life before further experimentation takes place.

You take the part of Solo, directing him around the maze-like mechlabs in search of security units, which are then used to disengage Wardlock's security system.

Solo's movements are joystick controlled, and his task is hampered somewhat by the fact that he must also take care of Nejo, who follows him about on all fours.

The little prodigy takes quite a bit of looking after; indicators at the top of the screen tell you when Nejo needs cleaning up and when it is time to feed him. Another display also indicates the current oxygen supply level, which needs replenishing from time to time.

The central display is taken up by a view of one of Wardlock's monitors, giving a forced-perspective 3D picture of the captives, their present surroundings and Wardlock's failed experiments - specifically the Bloberites and the Globewells. These hinder your progress around the labs, and repeated exposure to them causes you to be returned to your initial location in each zone.

The mechlabs are divided into four major zones, termed Ice, Vegie, Tech and Fire. Movement between them is speeded up by use of a teleport system, which is activated by simply walking into its chambers.

This is completely unplayable. It's incredibly difficult to get the baby to follow the spaceman - in some places it requires a pixel perfect move beore you can progress.

This is so frustrating, and when the aliens start moving around and getting in the way it all becomes too much. It's a shame really - if a little more thought had been put into the gameplay, then it could have been quite good. As it stands it's no good to man or beast.

Here we go again, great concept - bad implementation. Prodigy is another of those games that fails because too much has been crammed into it.

The gameplay, what there is of it, is slow and repetitive and the graphics don't do anything to encourage further play. The control method is awkward, making the game suffer even more, and trying to make that awful child follow you is near impossible - and when it is mastered it's even slower than before!

I didn't enjoy playing Prodigy, and I doubt it will appeal to many.

In essence, Prodigy is a simple seek-it-out maze game, a type which I really don't enjoy. The initial difficulty encountered in attempting the simplest manoeuvre rapidly destroys any compulsion to explore, and Nejo is a real pain - if he's not lined up correctly with a door he just stands against the wall, immovable.

The lab's defenders are a continual hassle, and you spend most of the time trying to avoid them rather than looking around. This is far from the best game of its genre, and unless you are desperate for a forced perspective maze-game I would advise you to look elsewhere.

Presentation 65%
Sparse instructions, but good in-game presentation.

Graphics 60%
Reasonable definition, but unconvincing forced perspective.

Sound 45%
Fair title tune, but little in the way of spot effects.

Hookability 34%
Fiddly control which is immediately off-putting.

Lastability 45%
Large playing area - if you can be bothered to stick at it.

Value For Money 31%
Ten pounds is a little steep for a monotonous and unplayable game.

Overall 40%
An interesting concept which suffers from severe playability problems.