Percy in peril

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It's penguin breeding-time in the Antarctic and it's Percy Penguin's turn to find food for his clan. Hungry and cold, he must make his way to the edge of the sea ice.

The bad news for Percy is that the place is littered with marauding blighters.

Not only does he have to avoid the crevasses and ice slides, but he must dodge the leopard seals and the skuas.

Also, courtesy of one of the many unscrupulous South American governments, radioactive waste has mutated the microscopic sea life into mega-critters.

Fortunately, there's the odd fish lying around to sustain Percy's energy ...

The Perils of Pcrcival Penguin has four screens which you must waddle through until you find a route that gets you to the sea. These are nicely set out in detailed graphics, and animation is simple but smooth.

A tune chunters in the background, but it can be turned off if things hot up.

Each screen has a time limit in the form of a setting sun. If the sun sets before you finish the screen, it's bye-bye Percy! That's provided your energy doesn't run out beforehand.

I found it difficult to control the penguin and the game didn't really inspire me to master it. However, the standard of the graphics is high - with attractive title pages and comprehensive instructions available before the game starts.

The game is keyboard only, with an awkward layout of keys and it's a little expensive for what you get.

All in all, this is a game with an interesting and novel scenario, but more screens with fewer hazards would be welcome.

Phil Tudor