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The curious name of the game is derived from its star, a schoolboy nicknamed the same, and one suspects that it's a reference to the programmer Tooba Zaidi - perhaps it's what all his friends call him. The game in which our rhyming hero appears is a multi-screen one where he walks and flies around collecting money and blasting merry hell out of lots of aliens.

The money is to replace a school window he broke. This will cost him £50 as well as determine his end of term grade at school. With stakes like that and the headmaster betting you his Ferrari you can't do it, you can hardly resist the challenge. The gameplay itself is quite simple. Tubaruba just has to find the money strewn around the 20-odd screens in £1 and 5p coins. He can also make money, a penny a time, by shooting the aliens that attack him.

The task is made difficult by the limited energy that TR has and the fact that many things can drain it. Shooting steadily uses up his supply, as does touching the nasties. Some of these make him explode in a spectacular shower of dots and drain a chunk of energy. He has infinite lives with the game only ending when the energy runs out, but with every screen packed with danger, this happens all too fast.

The way to replenish energy is by picking up the money and more importantly the food that is lying about all over the place. Most things only increase the supply by a small amount but some objects will replenish it entirely and are immensely valuable. When TR finally runs out of energy and gets expelled he automatically walks to the middle of the screen, lies down and explodes like a firework display - nasty way to go!

The rooms are all nicely designed with a wide variety of features and dangers within. Some follow movement patterns, others home-in, some zip bout at high speed and really sneaky dangers just don't move and wait to sap your strength as you pass over them. If you can't shoot them, you'll have to avoid them, and this is where the jet pack comes in handy. It allows TR to fly about quickly and consequently enhances his chances of survival.

Many of the nasties shoot golden ball missiles which follow long, curving trajectories and explode TR if contacted. TR's own bullets (bubble gum) are also affected by gravity and start to dip after a few centimetres flight on-screen.

There are two basic ways of getting between screens, all of which are flick screens. The easiest is just by flying off the edge of one and into another, although sometimes these exits may not be immediately obvious and you'll have to search them. There are also windows which, when flown into, transport TR to another location. But this costs him energy and should be used sparingly.

The looks and sounds of the game are good, with lots of varied nasties, all fast moving, and attractive screen designs accompanied by some catchy music and appropriate sound effects. Tubaruba isn't very demanding mentally, but as pure arcade action it's pretty tough and entertaining.

My first impressions of Tubaruba were of almost unplayable speed. After dozens of lives, I at last got the hang of it - at which point it became a very playable game. Graphics and sound are both pretty good and, while it won't worry your grey matter, the brain cells do need a rest now and again. Don't they?

P. Attractive screens and moving graphics.
P. Extremely tough task to complete.
P. Nice backing music.
P. Good touches like teleport windows, bullet trajectories and explosions.

N. Not a lot to think about.
N. In some situations, energy can disappear horribly fast.