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They say school days are the happiest days of your life. Well, that may be so - but what I know for sure is that School Daze is the most original and entertaining game to be released for any age. Just watching the demo is like viewing a whole series of Grange Hill at one sitting!

And that should give you a clue to what the game is all about. It's set in a typical school, with typical pupils and typical teachers - all of which you'll recognise from your own experience.

The hero is Eric. Now, Eric has heard on the grapevine that his end of term report is not all it should be. So he wants to get it out of the school safe before it comes to the attention of the headmaster.

The combination of the safe consists of four letters known to the headmaster and the masters. To get the combination, Eric has to first hit all the school shields - hanging around on the walls of various rooms - and set them flashing. This is more difficult than it sounds. You have to work out different strategies for different shields.

Once you've got all the shields flashing, the masters become strangely disorientated - knock them over and they'll reveal their part of the code. All except the History Master that is, who has to be persuaded in a different fashion which you'll have to find out for yourself.

Once you've got all the letters, you still have to work out the combination - and get to the safe in the staff room!

While Eric attempts to get his school report, the life of the school continues independently. Eric has to go to lessons too - which interrupts his quest. If he isn't in the right place at the right time, he gets lines! Over 10,000 lines and Eric is expelled.

The other characters in the game - like The Swot, The Bully and Angelface - also give Eric a hard time. They attempt to hinder his quest for that school report by getting him into trouble with the Masters. With friends like these...!

The entire game is like an animated version of the Beano's Bash Street Kids strip - complete with cartoon-style voice bubbles which appear as the various characters "speak".

Poor old Eric really has a hard time at school. And you really get into the character as you play. Each of the Masters, and Eric's schoolfriends, have their own characteristics too. You learn about them as you play!

A nice touch is the feature which enables you to change the names of Eric's mates and the teachers to suit yourself. You can populate the game with all your least favourite teachers and your best mates. You can also make yourself the hero!

The graphics and animation are terrific and the sound isn't bad either. Overall, School Daze is an entertaining and amusing game. Well worth the asking price - but don't let it stop you doing your homework!