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People can go on about their minority rights. Moaners the lot of them. Have they ever spared a thought for the blobs? Eh? Thought not.

Oh yes, they're happy for the blobs to provide them with entertainment. There's no complaint when people are watching Morph or Babapapa on Bravo. And no tears when the Playdoh 'Fuzzy Barber Shop' is brought out for the family. But when it comes to giving equal rights to blobs, bogies, clays and putties (and our other affiliated members) there's a squidgy kind of silence. Well, no more. We won't be treated like something to be scraped off the sole of a shoe - even if that's what we are. Along with the chewing gum legions, grout guerillas, come our fiercesome forces of liberation: tremble at the might of The Putty Squad!

Rescue the captive putties on each platform level by employing Putty's elastic abilities.

The ubiquitous bonus star plays a part in Putty Squad, but it's of far more importance than a points bonus. As Putty's star tally increases, his offensive capabilities grow. Some stars are just lying around, but others may be earned in various ways - jumping on the guards rather than just punching them. Also, some enemies remove stars as well as energy.

You lose all your stars and powers with each lost life, making later levels much more difficult, so there's an added incentive to stay alive.

Putty's relationship with Dweevil is rather bizarre. A sort of punk cat, he wanders the levels on his rocket-powered skateboard. Putty summons him by regurgitating the packet of cat food. When Dweevil arrives, he goes for Putty. If he get a kick in, he lays a time-bomb in celebration. If Putty floors him, his substantial belly serves as a trampoline. Putty can even push him into position.

Putty demonstrates his elastic properties in several useful ways. He uses these shape-changing powers to overcome the trials of landscape and enemy:

1. Shuffle For extra speed and moving across gaps, Putty stretches himself lengthways.

2. Stretch This allows Putty to pull himself up to higher platforms or grab bonuses without jumping.

3. Droop Lets Putty descend as long as there is a floor beneath him.

4. Absorb With Putty flattened, he can absorb all manner of items. It also doubles as a safety position from most enemies.

5. Inflate After jumping, Putty is able to pump himself and float upwards. The bigger he becomes, the faster he rises. But inflating reduces his energy progressively.

Putty busts his way into a series of crates found in each landscape. He is able to absorb the contents which spew forth. Some of these items have an instant beneficial effect on his health, whereas other items add uncanny powers to his arsenal, like the following:

1. Nitro Once absorbed, Putty can lay timebombs when flat.

2. Cat Food Used to call Dweevil.

3. Pod Putty takes to the skies in a mini-rocket. If he has nitros he can bomb from the air. Flying reduces health, but at least he can't crash.

4. Food Replaces lost health.

5. Disguise With a convincing specs-and-moustache set, he fools the enemies and walks by unmolested.

6. Chilli No-one can result Putty's Jalapeno-induced rage.

7. Quaver Summons the DJ, whose turn starts the baddies raving helplessly.

Luckily, Ocean have bypassed the boring Super Putty and gone straight for the sequel, and it's unquestionably their best to date. Putty Squad looks the business, with brilliant animation for both Putty and the game's legions of denizens. But it plays even better than it looks.

The range of things you can do with the lump of clay makes for more playability than most left-right-jump platformers. The levels are large and offer freedom to explore and develop strategies, and things get touch very quickly. It's also a relief that the game humour works well, with silly disguises and putty's quizzical expressions.

Only the sound is less than excellent, though accomplished enough. This is one of the most playable platformers around, made all the more attractive by its originality.

Congrats go to Ocean for what is one of the most original platformers for ages. After the superb Jelly Boy, they return to their morphing fixation with Putty Squad which, whilst not as immediately playable as Jelly Boy, offers a more challenging task.

Guiding the little blue blob up and onwards requires real skill, but pulling off his special moves soon becomes second nature. Everything about the game feels right. The cartoon graphics are ideally suited, and each level features a fiendish array of ledges to traverse. Add to this a wealth of hyper-intelligent baddies, and you have a game worthy of anyone's attention. It's just a pity the music is so crap, but I'm sure we can forgive it that little faux-pas.

Graphics 92%
P. Backdrops are crisper than a bag of Walkers and the animation is fluid. Great enemy sprites and lots going on at any one time.

Sound 81%
P. Hear putty squeak.
N. The beatbox backing tracks sound a little dated.

Playability 91%
P. The initial challenge is to work out how to get to grips with Putty. The baddies are intelligent and the levels are well thought out.

Lastability 89%
P. Loads of levels, some of which are extremely tough, despite the password system. You'll need to fine-tune your putty control.

Value For Money 88%
P. A platformer of this quality is a rare thing indeed, so you can't grumble at the tariff.

Overall 90%
Putty Squad comes together as one of the most solid and challenging platformers of the year, and a high point for Ocean.