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Life hasn't been terribly taxing for our two-tailed furry friend since we last saw him. If the intro sequence for Tails Adventures is anything to go by, he's not had much to do except snooze on a tree stump while life on his own little fantasy island passes him by.

But such tranquility was bound to be short-lived. Tails finds negotiations for his next television contract interrupted by the arrival of a bad-ass pyromaniac who decides to burn the island down for no apparent reason other than it would be good for a laugh. Suddenly, all the island's animals are transformed into demonic arsonists and find themselves equipped with flame-throwers and time bombs. Armed with a set of hand grenades and his uncanny helicopter-like flying skills, Tails sets out to douse this skullduggery and collect a load of rings along the way.

OK, that's the threadbare plot. What we have here is a fairly basic Game Gear platformer for Sonic's delightful/irritating sidekick. Given centre-stage is Tails up to the task in paw? Or is he about to be out-foxed?

Power ups offering extra rings and useful accessories are secreted around the island. Looking a bit like little Sega Saturn symbols, they bring Tails' ring tally up to 20, prolonging gameplay. And no, we can't read Japanese either.

Tails is at one with nature and his little forest friends until what appears to be an armour-plated duck rolls up and uses his island for a barbecue. Are fox burgers on the menu?

On the second level, Tails is armed with these remote-controlled toy doodlebugs which can scout potentially dangerous areas ahead of him.

In typical Sonic style, the wildlife has been robotised. This particular blue meanie sits inside a hovering flame-thrower. Automated bats and frogs are amongst the sinister cybords that plague you later on.

Tails takes the spotlight as the Sonic saga continues.

Navigate our furry little chum through multi-scrolling, platforms, beating off hostile wildlife.

Ho hum. Been there, done that, seen it all before. Not only is this decidedly unoriginal, it's not even particularly challenging. It's all too familiar to Tails' Megadrive adventures.

Would, I wonder, this have made it far off the drawing board if it hadn't had Sonic's furry chum attached? I suspect not. Still, if you don't own anything like this already (and the chances of that are surely pretty slim) then you won't be disappointed.

Time to come clean. I'm a bit of a sucker for Sonic and his copter-like companion and feel that there's plenty of life left in the dynamic duo. True, I was looking forward to some 32-bit excursions rather than another Game Gear potboiler, but Tails' Adventures will certainly do to be going along with.

There's very little else to say about this, to be honest. It doesn't push back the frontiers of gaming as we know it, but it is a compelling and relatively taxing little platformer with just enough secret rooms and hidden power-ups to keep you coming back for more.

It's a little disconcerting to see our previously peace-loving fox bombing everything in sight to forge his path, but his unique hovering ability still stands as quite an endearing feature. Not half bad.

Graphics 75%
P. Tails and his foes are picked out in good detail.
N. The firestorm backgrounds become repetitive.

Animation 70%
P. Cheeky tail flourishes abound.

Music 70%
P. Some nifty brushwork from the band-in-a-box drummer.

Effects 65%
N. Nothing to write home about.

Playability 85%
P. A familiar format with the benefit of a steep learning curve.

Lastability 83%
P. Keeps you coming back for more.

Overall 80%
Brings nothing new to platforming, but does the job in fine style.