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There are games with simple plots, games with indescribably complex plots, but with Rocman I'm afraid the plot will be mostly guesswork, because it arrived hot from Hispania, without even an inlay card. But Jim tells me it concerns a quest for a mislaid Grail!

The synthesised speech is an indication of the polish that's gone into Rocman. The idea of a Roman (though he may be from modern day Barcelona, on his way to a fancy dress ball, for all I know) who has to trudge around, picking up objects and avoiding gliding eyeballs in caves, isn't going to win too many awards for originality. But do a thing with enough style and you can still save the day.

The thought that has gone into the scrolling scenery has really paid off, as you set your Rocam roamin' through an exotic landscape. Rocman himself is a fair size figure, large enough to show off an enthusiastic grin. The only side effect of his size is that timing jump, to avoid the eyeball nasties, is tricky, and his pace is perhaps a trifle plodding, (probably a result of all that marching round, dividing Gaul into three parts).

The game's construction is a little formulaeic, so that if you pick up an object, you won't have to walk far before you find a use for it! So, whenever you find a heart, which gives you a boost of extra strength, you can be sure that there's a sudden drop ahead to use it up.

But this is a budget game and there's enough in it to make it an amusing diversion, even if you can't help wishing that the programming and graphic skills could be used to a rather more original end. next time.

Great graphics and amusing effects redeem this from being just another arcade adventure.