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Just when you thought it was safe to go back down the mine, Superior Software has released Repton 3.

The game features all the characters and graphics from Repton 2, but is closer to the original Repton in gameplay and objectives. It comes with 24 individual levels to complete, stored on tape or disc as three separate files.

On successful completion of each level you are given the password for the next, which means that when you play the game on subsequent occasions you don't have to wade your way through it all again.

Repton 3 doesn't suffer from as much screen edge flicker as did Repton 2, and the animation is noticeably faster - our little green skinned buddy really tears around the screen under your control.

Only a small section of the overall map is visible at any one time. Each level is laid out like a maze, constructed from boulders, earth, diamonds, giant eggs and many other devilish things. To complete a level you must kill every monster and collect all of the diamonds and a golden crown before a time bomb explodes.

The problems begin as you burrow your way beneath the boulders. As soon as the supporting earth has been removed the boulder falls, killing you or changing the shape of the maze by blocking off a passageway.

For this reason your route through the maze must be very carefully planned - one badly-placed rock and you might as well start again. As in Repton, you can call up a detailed map of the whole level to help you choose the correct path through a maze.

When I first played the game I thought the monsters were pretty tricky to deal with as they have to be lured beneath a precariously balanced boulder and then squashed.

One nasty newcomer to the Repton scene is the creeping fungus. As time passes this poisonous growth will spread around the maze. Your only hope is to block its way with a few well placed boulders.

Not only does Superior Software give you one of the best games of 1986 it also supplies a maze-editing utility. You can design your own fiendish mazes, save them to cassette or disc, and pass them on to your friends for them to solve.

I can say with complete confidence that Repton 3 will outsell every other game for the BBC Micro this Christmas.