Rupert the Bear, a British institution and one of the world's most famous bears, has at last transferred into binary media.

In this arcade adventure you take the role of Rupert in his quest to get to a party to see all his old chums. You see, good ol' Roops has been helping his Daddy (as all baby bears should) and has made himself late for the party. Not wanting to miss all the buns, ginger pop and frolics, Rupert must get there as fast as possible. The trouble is that the route to the party is through the evil Toymaker's castle (why Roopie Babes doesn't take a charabanc or get his Daddy to take him in his automobile is a mystery - but then, there wouldn't be a story if he did).

To get to the party just follow and collect all the party invitations Rupert's rather considerate friends have dropped, what a jolly bunch of pals has he! The only trouble is that the evil Toymaker's toys are annoyed that they haven't been invited so they try to stop our hero's fun. There are many of them and they march up and down trying to get in Rupert's way. Our favourite bear has to leap over them in his collecting quest. If he touches them he loses one of his chances (lives). If they are all lost, then the game finishes and Rupert doesn't get to the party (boo hoo)!

There are seven separate levels in the castle and each level is three screens long. Every level has several floors and these are connected by stairways that Rupert has to leap up or down. To move onto the next level, Rupert must simply collect all the party invites and go to the level's exit door.

On the first levels there are only soldiers marching about. There is also a friendly magpie which flies around - jump onto its back and you get a lift to the other side of the screen. On level two trains are introduced. These shunt up and down the screen at high speed and generally cause big problems for Rupert. A friendly plane also flies about, which can be used in the same manner as the magpie. Level three contains the same meanies, but level four has dangerous birds and Jack-in-the-Boxes along with the others. Levels five (you get two new lives here) and six are similar, apart from level six having rubble lying around. The final level has all the nasties together and is extremely difficult to finish.

From the title screen onwards this is graphically excellent. The animation and the definition of the main character are both superb for the size of Rupert, who is about five characters high. The animation of nasties around him is also marvellous, the soldiers march up and down in a spritely manner with a good marching noise echoing about the walls of the castle. The other nasties and frendlies are all brilliantly animated too. Background scenery is crisp, detailed and colourful with nice 'castley' graphics. Sound is 'jolly', with jingles as you play, great game effects and a very good title screen tune. The only trouble is the game matter - it's a case of once you've got through you probably won't feel like returning to it. Having learned the patterns of the soldiers and other baddies, a level can be easily completed, which tends to lower its lastability.

Rupert offers less of a long lasting challenge to the hardened arcade player than many games around at the moment. The game is rather like Manic Miner in the respect that once you've learnt the pattern for one screen, you can easily complete it time and time again. However, it takes some learning, especially on the hard levels, and what delightful learning too. The graphics are extraordinary good, using big sprites, lots of colour, good animation and the sound is excellent too. I particularly liked the title screen, which captures the flavour of the original book illustrations beautifully. This should be a big hit with younger players, but hardened, grown up addicts may find they have grown out of teddy bears.

This is without doubt a very pretty game to look at and is initially a very jolly one to play. Graphics are of a very high standard with some wonderfully defined and animated characters (Rupert himself is very close to his tabloid counterpart and the nasties all have their own 'character') and the game has an extremely polished look to it. The music is of as high a standard as the graphics, but it does tend to grate after a few games. Argus have succeeded in bringing Rupert the comic strip to the video screen and the game has an appropriate feel and atmosphere to it. As pick-em-ups go, Rupert is a good one but suffers from the same problem as Ronald's Rat Race in that it does become rather repetitive to play in time.

Presentation 77%
No options and a silly start routine, but a polished look.

Graphics 90%
Nice, big Rupert and good sprites all round.

Sound 82%
Great tune and effects.

Hookability 78%
Initial hook...

Lastability 62%
...but does prove a bit tedious once mastered.

Value For Money 71%
Reasonable for this sort of game.

Overall 71%
Middling to good.