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Just goes to show that there's still life in an old idea treated right. Skull is your basic 3D maze game but gussied up with a whole lot of glossy touches that make it more than halfway decent.

Game objective is to negotiate an infinite-level maze, collecting treasure, without losing lives, so racking up the highest score possible. Out to stop you doing this are all manner of hazards, pitfalls, trapdoors, portcullises and, of course, giant skulls.

These giant, creepy effigies (rendered in superb hi-res graphics) lurk round corners and will suddenly appear in your path. If you hold one or more crosses, the skulls will have gems set in their eye socket and you can obtain these by ploughing through the skull. But beware the skull with the empty eyes... confronting it will bring your quest to a swift and bloody end.

What sets Skull head and shoulders above other 3D mazes is the attention to detail Games Machine have lavished on the game. Like the plan view of the whole maze that appears on screen at the start of each game, showing where the treasure lies and the skulls lurk, only to frustratingly disintegrate before your eyes after a few seconds. It can be called back again at any time, but will cost you 25 points.

Other noteworthy features include save and load facilities, printing out of screen images and a unique option to 'merge' high score tables.

Graphically, Skull is very slick. 100% machine code. Random maze generation. Stunning screen wipes. The whole presentation smacks of professionalism. (Other software houses please note.)

A very credible first effort from Games Machine and, hopefully, a mark of the standard we can expect from future releases.