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One night, when little Giana from Milano was tucked up in her bed and sleeping fast, she had a mysterious dream... Through the swirls of a dark, deep dreamscape she suddenly found herself in a strange land of traps, tricks and malevolent creatures.

To escape this weird world of imaginings, Giana passes through its 32 levels in search of a great, magical diamond. These stages are set either above or below ground and scroll horizontally from right to left. Each one is completed within 100 seconds, otherwise a life is lost. Seconds remaining at the end of a level are multiplied by ten for a bonus.

A status strip at the top of the screen displays the score, crystals collected, lives remaining, current stage and time left. Crystals are collected in three ways: head-butting beige coloured rocks, picking them up loose or by hitting ordinary blocks, some of which yield three jewels or more. Gathering 100 crystals rewards the player with an extra life to add to the initial three.

The landscapes consist of platforms and obstacles. Giana jumps or runs left or right to negotiate the hazards, which include holes, fire pits, spikes and pools of water, all of which forfeit a life should they be touched. However, all is not what it seems at first, since some holes lead to secret rooms piled high with magic crystals; a process of trial and error reveals which holes are fatal and which magical.

Alien beings, disguised as cute and cuddly creatures such as giant bees, lobsters, wriggling worms and bouncing blobs, wander around the landscapes intent on their own business. Contact with any of these is fatal, but they are easily destroyed by squashing them from above, shooting them with dream-bubbles or annihilating large numbers with a smart bomb.

Weapons and extra features are collected from beige blocks to allow safer passage through the dreamscape: the first of these is a fire-wheel which transforms sweet, well-behaved Giana into a punk who head-butts bricks. Weaponry is supplied in the form of a lightning bolt (dream-bubbles), double lightning (dream-bubbles which rebound off obstacles to be caught again) and strawberries (dream-bubbles which home in on their victim).

Other features are activated with the space bar and include a clock which puts creatures to sleep for a short period, magic bombs, a water drop (protection against fire) and a lollipop, which yields an extra life.

After some initial hiccups - or should I say gigantic burps - things seem to be looking up for Go! Great Giana Sisters is a clone of the utterly superb Super Mario Bros, and although it isn't as good as Nintendo's classic, it's still both incredibly addictive and tremendously playable. There are a plethora of hidden bonuses and rooms to discover across 32 action-packed levels, and just to keep you on your toes, there's also a strict time limit!

Great Giana Sisters isn't just fun to play - it looks good too! Nicely animated 'cute' sprites and strange backdrops work together perfectly to create a strange dream-like world - some of the creatures and objects are really weird. Anyone lucky enough to have Super Mario Bros won't find this particularly appealing because SMB is far more refined, but for those without, Great Giana Sisters offers a fiendishly playable platform game that'll have you burning the midnight oil for weeks.

Bearing in mind the immense success of Super Mario Brothers, I'm surprised that no-one has tried to emulate its format before. Though it isn't an exact copy of said blockbuster, Great Giana Sisters manages to recreate the aura of cute platform play which appealed to so many garners, and hence the game's appeal is really quite astounding.

Something which this game has borrowed from the arcade is its surprise bonus blocks and treasure rooms, and it's always very satisfying to come across a block jam-packed with crystals. Cartoonesque sprites and mushroomy landscapes fit the bill perfectly as does the excellent background music. Minor deficiencies which are brought to light in the comparison with SMB, such as the slightly tricky jump control and the post-mortem resetting of the crystal counter may irritate true devotees of that classic, but less discerning platform addicts should be well pleased with what is a thoroughly entertaining game.

This is one of the most addictive arcade adventures I've ever played - it's amazing! The gameplay is just fabulous: the basic collect and shoot action is brilliant in itself, with great graphics and a wide range of weapons and extra features to collect, but on top of this there are loads of secrets to be discovered.

You can play the same level for ages and then suddenly discover a bonus room packed full of jewels, or head-butt an apparently ordinary block only to find it yields half a dozen crystals.

With 32 levels to complete there are enough surprises and bonus sections to satisfy anyone: you can even walk along the top of the screen if you want to! The visual impression is just great: Giana and her sister are cutely animated and neatly drawn, the enemies are designed for maximum appeal and the backdrops are diverse, colourful and deviously laid out.

The sound might seem a bit twee at first, but it suits the game's jolly tone perfectly, and is certainly not annoying. It's the best game of its type since Bubble Bobble, and there can't be many higher recommendations than that.

Presentation 95%
Two-player option, a multitude of bonus screens and surprise features, with a high-score table saved to disk.

Graphics 91%
A wide range of appealing characters couple with brightly coloured and varied backdrops to create a superb cartoon-quality atmosphere.

Sound 77%
A cute tune and appropriate spot effects jolly along simultaneously.

Hookability 95%
The simple, appealing gameplay is instantly addictive; the brilliant visual and aural impression is the icing on the cake.

Lastability 95%
The 32 levels are only the beginning; many more secret rooms and mysterious features are there to be discovered...

Overall 96%
A fabulous, compelling and constantly rewarding arcade adventure.