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Fred Flintstone is looking forward to the Bedrock Super-Bowl final at the weekend, but Wilma has other ideas: she won't let him go before he's painted the living room.

His reluctant artistic efforts are hampered by his daughter Pebbles, who constantly scribbles on Fred's freshly painted wall, and his live paint brush's desperate bids for freedom!

On finishing the whole wall, Fred and Barney set off for the bowling contest in Fred's jalopy. Hitting one of the road's hazardous outcrops sees the removal of one of the wheels, forcing Fred and Barney to stop and replace it.

On to the Bedrock Superbowl where Fred and Barney slug it out on the polished lanes.

Later, Fred arrives home to the news that Pebbles has escaped and is clinging to a girder on a building site. Fred has to rescue his daughter - or suffer the embarrassment of seeing Barney do the job for him!

Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: All your favourite characters in glorious monochrome;
Sound: TV title tune on the 128K, sound effects only on 48K
Options: Practise painting or bowling sections

I didn't quite shout "Yabba Dabba Doo!" while playing this but is certainly very playable. None of the four parts are particularly brilliant but together they make quite a fun package. Painting is soon mastered but I couldn't get to grips with the car journey. The bowling is the best part of the game - I love Barney's flamboyant bowling style! - and the rescue scene is just a simple platform game. The graphics are sparsely coloured but do retain some of the humour of the cartoon. The animation is smooth and effective with plenty of nice touches, like Fred frowning while he's doing the painting.

On the whole though, the game is slightly too easy and therefore shouldn't take long to complete, losing most of its appeal in the process. Not a bad attempt - but not a fantastic game either.

The trials and tribulations of Fred Flintstone's life often have him screaming with rage. Play Grandslam's game and you'll soon be joining him. Experience the unique frustration of attempting to paint the walls down to the final invisible pixel with a super-human Pebbles at your heels. Even when the wall looks completely covered and you'd need a microscope to see the remaining paintless piece, Wilma and Betty treat you like a jerk.

If you're lucky enough to get to the bowling alley you'll participate in a botched and tedious evening off. The controls are primitive, pin-fall is unrealistic and clever, computer-controlled Barney Robot is almost always bound to win. In recreating all the irritating aspects of Fred's life, the programmers have managed to leave out every possible scrap of fun. The cartoon presentation is extremely polished (even the familiar tune is recognisable) and there are plenty of peripheral details; unfortunately they can't stop Bedrock from approaching rock-bottom.