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Volcano, the new release from Computer Magic, starts off with a good idea. You have to escape from a maze-like city - which has underground and overground levels - before lava from an erupting volcano covers everything with a molten blanket.

Nice idea. Shame about the game. It's really a simple maze game - like the ones you play with pencil and paper in puzzle magazines, but transferred to computer. You move your crudely-drawn character around the "streets" of the city - collecting dynamite, eating food and avoiding looters - en route for the boat waiting to carry you away from the volcano.

You need dynamite to blast your way through obstacles which block your way and you need food to stay alive. You get five at the start of each game - and they disappear at an alarming rate. You really need to make a map of the different locations as you move using a pencil and paper - the small map that accompanies the cassette doesn't really give you any useful information.

Make a wrong move and you could end up trapped in a dead end without any dynamite to blast your way past the rocks which have fallen across the path behind you. Game over!

You also sometimes fall into a swamp. There is no indication of this happening to warn you - just a message which says you've lost a life. That's where your own map would come in handy.

If you are really unlucky, you might fall into the underground passages with graphics like those ancient "3D maze" games you used to play on your ZX81. There appears to be no way out unless you have a match and can use it to see the old map you apparently have with you.

A nice idea - but the graphics are crude and the game eventually too frustrating to be much fun.

I know that games are supposed to have a bit of mystery surrounding them and that the documentation shouldn't give too much away - but I felt that Volcano needed a bit more explanation for the player to make the most of the game.