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I can't believe that Rick Dangerous scored a miserly 73% in issue 52. It's great! Funny, entertaining, and oozing with character, even two years on it's worth far more.

Set in 1945, the plot is a blatant steal from Indiana Jones. Having crashed his light aircraft near the temple of the head-hunting Goolu tribe, Rick decides to break in and steal all their sacred treasures via an arcade adventure/platforms-and-ladders game. (Selfish barst!) After he's finished looting, it's off to Egypt to 'rescue' (read 'steal') the jewel of Ankhel from some mad mullahs. As for the third mission, well that's for you to discover.

Rick Dangerous isn't an arcade adventure in the traditional 'run around picking up and using objects' mould, more of a platforms-and-ladders game where progress relies as much on brainpower as on manual dexterity.

As well as shooting and bombing poor innocent natives, you must dynamite your way through blocked passages, avoiding the various tricks and traps used to protect the treasures from thieving gits like you!

This is where a bit of brainpower comes in handy - how do I avoid that boulder? From where should I jump to avoid landing on the spikes? It is really fair to go round shooting natives when they only have spears?

Your ammo supply is limited, but more can be found en route, though how they came to be lying in an ancient temple populated by spear-wielding natives is anyone's guess...

The first thing you notice about Rick Dangerous is the amount of control offered by a simple joystick and fire button. You can move (obviously), jump, fire your gun, lay a bomb, poke your stick (oo-er!), and crawl. This may sound complicated, but it's easily mastered and incredibly useful - there's nothing worse than a game which utilises half the keyboard and would tax an octopus.

You're given seven lives, and you'll need them - arcade adventures where you get stuck and run out of lives before getting to grips with the problem are damned annoying. The graphics are near-perfect, with the small, cartoony sprites clearly visible against the grey backgrounds. They are as well animated as they need be, but the sprite masking is a little lax - you can be killed by an enemy without going anywhere near his weapon. (Fnar-fnar!)

As you may have gathered, I wasn't too impressed with the plot - taking sacred treasures from long-abandoned shrines is archaeology: stealing irreplaceable relics from primitive cultures is contemptible. What next, "Rick Dangerous breaks into church and steals the collection plate"...? [I think you're taking this just a bit too seriously, Ian! - Ed] Even so, it's a great game and should appeal to arcade adventurers everywhere.