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What time is it when a elephant sits on your fence? Time to buy a bloody great shotgun and blow its brains out! Ha! (okayokayokay guys - apologies to the RSPCA, the World Wildlife Campaign, The Kenyan Orphan Elephant appeal and all disabled elephants everywhere).

So, moving on quickly, it's also time to take a look at Vivid Images latest offering Time Machine, their sequel to the excellent Hammerfist...

The barmy professor Potts has concocted a machine that can scoot around in time - useful for doing the pools eh? Problem being, the only thing that is officially dafter than old Potts is that well known species of pest - Internationalious Terroristus. There suckers are harder to wipe out than a cockroach with a bagful of chemical weapons (ring any bells that?). Well they bomb the barmy old duffer and send him and his machine spirallng back in time to yer actual prehistory (innit?) and his machine with him which slips a cog on the way and looses its power crystal.

Potts must painstakingly help the evolution of the planet through five different time zones by manipulating objects and thereby gently nudging the processes involved to help make the transition to the next piece of history.

Each period of time has five sub sections, each with a particular puzzle that has to be worked out. Some things that are done at lower levels will not have their desired effect until a couple of time zones later and you must work the problems out by trial and error.

Help is provided along the way by the Time Zone monitor - a 25 box grid that has a single spot that shows where Potts is at any one time and a red border colour for time zones that are having problems. Oh yes, during the game, things can happen in previous time zones that affect the stability of later levels. You must return to that zone and put to rights all that's gone wrong meaning that Pott's must continually skip back into the past to keep the delicate fabric of time intact. Luckily he has four transporter devices that he can transport between to cut down on travelling time.

Time Machine is an absorbing and innovative game with excellent mono graphics. It just remains to be seen if people will be adventurous enough to put their hands in their pockets. And for that, only time will tell.

Innovative idea translated to the Spectrum with excellent grafix. A brain buster!