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Based around the new children's show of the same name this game shouldn't be written off as just for kids: it's got a lot more to offer. Besides the cute graphics, humour and good animation, there are some interesting tasks to complete. You won't master them easily.

The Trap Door concerns the attempts of a hapless Berk to please the Bad-Tempered Thing - upstairs, never seen - that orders him to do various tasks. Berk inhabits the lower floors of a dingy castle and has to deliver objects to the BTT using a dumbwaiter lift. Berk himself is a large, blue, cute-looking cookie monster shambling around the screen at precisely the speed befitting a fat lump like him.

There are two types of Berks: Learners and Supers. The Learners have to complete four tasks; the Superberk has to do five and also cope with some additional hazards.

The things poor Berk has to send to 'Im Upstairs aren't very pleasant: eyeball crush, boiled slimies and a can of worms, for instance. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. Each task requires you to solve a puzzle by using various pieces of equipment and, most difficultly, a creature from out of the trapdoor.

The trapdoor is in the floor of Berk's starting room. When he flicks the lever to open it, out comes a creature. One of them is essential to the completion of a task but the others just have to be got rid of again. They each perform an action that you'll need and although it may not be immediately apparent what it is, you'll appreciate their animation and humour.

Berk is wonderfully animated as he waddles around the castle - one long wrap-around corridor with a single cellar room below. The corridor has several staircases that Berk can climb to reach balconies and walkways. The playing area isn't very large; even so, there's quite a lot of hard work to do to crack the game. The castle itself is quite dull but the creatures within it are most entertaining.

Berk can pick up many objects, most of them containers, and tip the contents from one to another. Some objects are too large to carry and have to be pushed around to get them into position. You'll have to be quite imaginative m your use of them. Just to illustrate why, here's an example of one of the tasks.

The BTT has asked for fried eggs so logically enough, Berk needs to get a bird out from the trapdoor. Once out, it flaps around doing nothing in particular, so how does Berk get some eggs from it? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, he needs to give it a bit of a surprise from beneath - catapult something into it. I won't tell you any more except that when Berk succeeds, the look on the bird's face is hilarious.

Each task has to be completed within a time limit or poor Berk will catch hell from you-know-who.

Throughout the game a little yellow spider hops (?) around making a nuisance of himself. A skull can come in handy for giving advice on what to do. Another problem is getting rid of an unwanted creature or a ghost that came through the trapdoor when you didn't want it.

Children will certainly appreciate the graphics, humour and tasks, which correspond closely with the TV show. The tasks will be a bit beyond younger children - but most parents will enjoy playing the game with them. Trapdoor should appeal to all ages, although hardened game-players will probably manage to crack it quite quickly - still great fun while you're trying.

Oh wow! That was my initial reaction on seeing such a lovely, large yet detailed Berk wandering around an over-infested castle. His hand and mouth movements are so fantastically realistic - almost better than watching the TV cartoon.

2,000.

Everything except Berk is clearly visible. This is a crying shame as you will miss out on some marvellous animation - Berk's facial movements are priceless!

P. Large, well-animated characters.
P. Bags of humour.
P. Imaginative tasks which range from very simple to quite complicated.
P. Appeals to all age-groups.
P. Corresponds closely with the TV series.

N. Won't keep experienced games' players going for long.