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This is an aptly named game, since you're likely to be driven bananas by the infuriating challenge it presents.

Screwball is essentially a spin-off from Q*Bert. In that game you had to colour the squares on a 3D pyramid while avoiding various fiendishly bouncing opponents (principally Coily the spring).

In this program, the squares are arranged in a rectangular pattern so that the screen looks more like an Aztec than an Egyptian structure. But enough of architecture.

'You are Screwball: you have 60 seconds to change the colour of all the squares that surround you.' Simple enough, if it weren't for those pesky Black Bugs. These are little black creatures with startling red hairstyles, reminiscent of Denis the Menace's dog, Gnasher. They move very quickly from their perches at the four corners of the rectangle and jump on you if you find yourself adjacent to them.

However, Screwball is not defenceless, for he is half man, half corkscrew. A swift press on the space bar and he has dug a hole into which a Black Bug can tumble. Pausing to drill, of course, takes time, so you have to be careful when you do it.

There are several levels in the game: from the second one large gaps appear in the structure, making your task rather more difficult. There is, though, a hyperspace button - but this should be used sparingly.

Instead of leaping around free as the wind, you can just as easily end up trapped by bugs in a corner, or even falling down one of the holes you've previously drilled.

As with Q*Bert key control takes some getting used to - all movement is diagonal. But once this problem is overcome, the game can become hectic and compulsive.