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Remember the Poseidon Adventure? All those fantastic seventies styles, immortal performances from Hollywood's finest bit part actors, and, of course, the torrents of sea water crashing through the upturned hulk of a pleasure cruiser. And here we have the scenario for the platform-bound puzzler from the creators at Codemasters.

Kevin, being the friendly sort of he is, jumps in his submersible to rescue the passengers and crew of the slowly sinking SS Lucifer. In an obvious state of panic, the shipwreckees have lost all sense of direction and need young Kev to guide them to the exits. With more than 90 levels and an ever-increasing number of passengers and crew to be rescued, success appears to be no mean feat.

A cunning use of levers, bombs and timing is the key to successfully rescuing the castaways. Various nasties block the safe paths, and these have to either be removed or avoided to protect your party.

Mind you, there's no time to dawdle! Kev has to be mighty sharp on keeping an eye on the ever-increasing water level. Once the level gets too high, the passengers and crew lose their footing and slowly drown!

Two things attract me to S.S. Lucifer. One, I love the Poseidon adventure idea, and secondly, I'm rather partial to the odd puzzler. And there hasn't been much on that front since Lemmings and Popils. Now along comes Man Overboard with more levels than lifeboats on the Titanic and some smartly conceived gameplay. And it's original too.

Beneath a simplistically designed and devised game, lies a real monster of a puzzler. The control system is wonderfully easy to pick up, allowing the player to fully concentrate on the mind-boggling teasers. This is addictive stuff, and ideally suited to the Game Gear and the password means it can be played in stop-start situations. A smart little number.

Graphics 82%
Fast and fluid, if a little on the small side.

Sound 81%
Jolly little sea-faring tunes, but sometimes a bit repetitive.

Playability 89%
Simple and highly addictive.

Lastability 90%
Over 90 levels of increasing difficulty will last a fair while.

Value For Money 87%
A good price for loads of game.

Overall 89%
A huge addictive puzzler all packed into a handheld. Great stuff!