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Guide the waif-type boy-thing using the joypad in the standard platform manner, kiling Draxx's minions and picking power-ups up along the way.

Most kids, on finding their dear ol' papa nabbed by a bunch of bloodthirsty psychopaths would throw a strop, hide under a table, sucking their thumbs or call in the cops. But not young Saul Morrow. Oh no, this precocious brat, on watching via security camera his dad being tortured and kidnapped from his research lab by the notorious terrorists, Chimera, he leaps headlong into his father's prototype of the perfect war machine and activates... Project Wolfchild.

He is instantly transformed into a half-man, half-beast warrior with enormous strength, incredible psychic powers and an immunity to pain. Honey I Shrunk The Kids is small fry compared to this new epic - Honey I Turned The Kid Into a Monstrous Slobbering Beast, Hellbent On Revenge. Fuzzy face now sallies forth into the wilderness, determined to worry a few sheep, save his dad and stamp out the Chimeran top man, Karl Draxx, whose only ambition is to take over the world using Dr. Morrow's mutant war machines.

Although you start the game as a lad, you should keep your eyes peeled for the nifty little power-ups with lightning symbols on them. What's in them we don't know but it must be pretty potent stuff because a quick nibble of these is enough to put hairs on your chest... and your face... and legs and, all over really as well as making you spout fangs, have the constitution of an ox and become seriously 'ard.

You remain in this state until enemy hits batter your vitality bar and reverts you back to a mere mortal. The maximum length of the vitality bar can be lengthened by picking up the EXTEND bonuses which allows you to take more hits as Wolfchild.

Each time Saul changes into Wolfchild he's given unlimited single fireblasts - these stay with you even when all else fails. But you can increase your mighty weapon (up to 99 maximum) by snatching up the various icons. Here's a run down of what's in store:

1. Double Fireblast: These weapons are few and far between. They have a powerful single shot capacity and fire much faster than the single variety.

2. Arc Blast: This little beaut follows a curving path and is perfect for rooting out enemies trying to hide below you.

3. Flamer: Ideal for breaking up parties, the flamer rips cheerfully through anything that's not bolted down. It stops only when it hits solid landscape.

4. Homer: Nothing to do with The Simpsons, but as its name suggests homes in with deadly accuracy on all and sundry - there ain't nowhere they can run.

5. Plasma Ball: This zig-zags around until contact with the enemy and inflicts quadruple hits.

6. Three Way: This fires a stinging spray of three single-hit bullets.

7. Boomer: The best weapon in the cache, the boomer swings around Saul's body like a boomerang and takes a double hit on anything it collides with.

It's not just weapon pick-ups on hand to young wolfie-babes, there's a heap of special bonuses available to give you a bit of oomph. These include Point Bonuses which comes in various sized and coloured orbs - the bigger the orb the higher the points.

Collect enough letters to form the word BONUS for 20,000 or EXTRA for an extra life. Shield Bonuses give Saul limited invulnerability while restart bonuses must be collected throughout the game in order to start Saul from that spot rather than being dragged back to the beginning of the level when he snuffs it.

Watch out for the killer undergrowth, Marion! If there's one thing that's going to get right up Wolfgang's tail, then it's the mutant-schizoid death-dealing foilage that litters the second and third levels of the game.

These take the form of little mushroom-like pods that have the unnerving habit of sprouting just when Saul is walking over them - d'oh!

However, as your parents will no doubt vouch, some greens are actually good for you. And indeed, scattered throughout certain levels are various seed pods that strongly resemble, er, verdant mens bits actually. That aside, these useful pods reveal an even more useful power-up when shot. So think next time you turn your nose up of sprouts.

JVC has got a great reputation for putting out predominantly class products; the Mega-CD's a class machine from which we're all expecting great things. Put the two together and you'd expect a particularly fine package - unfortunately with Wolfchild you can dream on.

This game's the epitome of Mr. Average - looks okay, sounds okay, plays okay. Now on the Megadrive this situation is a slight disappointment, but on the Mega-CD it's an unforgivable travesty. There's so much that could have been exploited - at the very least the soundtracks - but instead we're just stuck with a dull, samey platform blaster which is about as interesting and fun as a mouldy carrot.

It may sound as if I am being too harsh about a game which isn't really all that bad but there's nothing more annoying than average tripe being churned out to the hopeful public when, with only a little more effort, the products could be so much better. On this one though, I'd give it a miss.

Grrr!! I just don't see any point whatsoever in commiting software of this dubious quality to Sega's latest and supposedly greatest piece of hardware. Fair enough, Wolfchild is quite a responsive game and is moderately enjoyable in places, but there's absolutely nothing about it which says Mega-CD.

The graphics are unremarkable, although the comedy wolf transformation sequence where Wolfie looks like he's being kicked up his lycanthropic ass, is bound to bring a slight, if somewhat desperate, smirk.

The sound too, unusually for a CD game, is completely average. Even the lengthy animated intro is just plain non-magnificent. There's nothing to Wolfchild which couldn't be done on the Megadrive, and indeed, hasn't already been done in games such as Turrican et al - and we all remember how great they were.

So, whilst not quite the shambling disaster some of the earliest Mega-CD stuff was, Wolfchild is as unremarkable as Jaz having yet another motorcycle accident. Yawn!

Presentation 49%
P. Fairly long and detailed intro sequence...
N. But it's pretty naff and you can find much better examples on the Megadrive, never mind the Mega-CD!

Graphics 52%
P. The sprites are moderately detailed.
N. But they are too small and backgrounds are utterly basic considering the capabilities of the Mega CD.

Sound 61%
P. Reasonably atmospheric tunes.
N. But at the risk of sounding repetitive, they should be far, far better on this machine.

Playability 51%
P. Easy to pick up and control, for what it's worth.
N. This slightly repetitive gameplay is extremely dated and offers nothing new to players.

Lastability 56%
P. Nine long, sprawling levels to explore means you won't get through it too quickly. Maybe.
N. But it's all very samey, unchallenging and uninteresting. Nothing worth revisiting.

Overall 57%
A good example of the Mega-CD... at its worst. The game's not totally awful but the Mega-CD's capabilities are not used in any shape or form which makes for a very disappointing product.