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Since the launch of MSX, Konami have managed to keep a constant stream of high-quality cartridges flowing onto the market. This is hardly surprising when you consider that they are the largest programming company in Japan.

The Goonies is a platform game based on the film and to say that it is fresh into this country would be an understatement. The version I got still has Japanese instructions! (Naturally, the game which appears in the shops will have English instructions. I only mentioned this to excuse myself if I omit one or two finer points of the game!)

Enough of the grovelling. The game's hero has to release his trapped friends by locating the keys to their cells. On his way, he will meet skulls which will sap his energy unless he thumps them into submission first, water outflows which will really dampen his enthusiasm, crashing boulders and the enemy gang who are out to shoot him. The latter two problems are always fatal and you have to take care not to fall foul of them.

Some of the locked cages hold objects which will help you to attain your eventual goal, while others hold the other members of your gang.

The first area you explore is fairly simple. It spreads over three screens in a horizontal way and there's no chance of losing your bearings. At the end of the cavern you go deeper into the maze by entering the mouth of a giant skull. This takes you to progressively more complex areas which spread out in all directions and you reach a point where you may have to resort to mapping if you're going to stand a chance of survival.

The graphics are simple but effective, though I feel that the game fails to reach the standard of Konami's Kings Valley game as far as gameplay is concerned even though the screens spread over a wider area.