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Despite starring in one of the earliest computer games, albeit as a baddy in the oddly named Donkey Kong, our closest relations haven't appeared in that many computer games. We've had stacks of llamas, ducks, rats, a few elephants and even a couple of ninja rabbits, but chimps have been pretty thin on a game. It's a bit surprising: after all, chimps can use tools, swing from ropes, scratch their heads and generally outmanoeuvre Phil any day of the week.

Toki himself is pretty nimble but, em, his etiquette is just a tad lacking. I mean, dealing with your enemies by spitting in their eyes isn't nice now, is it? What's more, when your spit's so acidic it causes them to go up in a puff of smoke it's positively criminal!

You could say a chimp wouldn't know better, but Toki isn't really a chimp, well not under the skin he isn't. You see, he used to be just a regular sort of guy with a really scrumptious girlfriend. But then up popped a magician to steal his girlie away after smartly transforming him into an ape.

So literally spitting mad, our friend must journey through five levels, each consisting of plenty of leaping from platform to platform, climbing vines, swimming and yes, loadsa gobbin' at zillions of hideous villains.

These include numerous mini-megabaddies, and mega-mega end-level baddies - well, relatively mega. There's also a reasonable range of collectable items to give the usual range of special features: limited invincibility, super flamebreath and so on.

Cartridge power means the arcade's playability is fairly well recreated. The lack of multi-load hassle is much appreciated, especially as the early levels aren't incredibly difficult to complete - they're fairly big, though, meaning reasonably good value for money.

The main drawback with Toki is simply "Turricanitis". The gameplay offers little new over that mega-game, can't compare in size, and the graphics - well, they're pretty varied, but the main sprite is rather splodgy, as are a fair few of the villains. Toki is colourful, there's quite a bit to do and the arcade playability is preserved, but with mega-graphics it's a bit so-so. If you're a bit tired of this style of game, Toki won't amaze you, but if you're a fan of the game-style, more of the same probably won't go amiss, especially at a mere £14.99!

As Stu says, Toki offers little new and the graphics a re a little blurred - they're certainly not as slick as say, Creatures, and there's the odd glitch on big villains too. *But* it's certainly playable. The arcade layout is unpredictable, switching from simple horizontal scrolling to vertical, mixing in swimming sections and weirdo villains every now and then. This makes the urge to progress quite high: you never know what's at the end of the next screen - nor what bit of villainy the baddy sprites are about to spring on you!

Toki isn't a classic, but its oddball theme is appealing, playability is good and the price not bad. Worth a look.

Presentation 70%
Two continue-plays and instant access, but limited glitz with minimal intro pizzazz and inter-level hype.

Graphics 79%
Varied and reasonably imaginative, but not as slick as they could be.

Sound 74%
Choice of limited effects or a reasonable soundtrack.

Hookability 83%
Coin-op addictivity soon sets in.

Lastability 81%
A reasonable challenge.

Overall 82%
A fun little conversion.