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Ziggy is the unlikely new star from Audiogenic, being a rather strange thing on a spring bouncing its way round the screen. The game is, I suspect, the first in a run of 3D arcade adventures, which up until now have never been seen on the Electron.

The screen display is laid out in a style known as oblique projection where horizontal lines are rotated 45 degrees to the horizontal. You can see a flat board with squares marked out and your viewpoint is from above and slightly behind, looking down at an angle.

Once you've got used to the unusual perspective you can start to guide Ziggy round the board. In all starts off in fine style, with the thing on a spring bouncing merrily around level zero collecting assorted crystals left lying around, one in each of the four rooms. At this early stage it takes little thought to collect all four jewels.

Now you bounce on to a special square which takes you up to the next level. Complete this and move to the next. Up to level four the game is straightforward enough, but after that things start to get hectic.

Patches of sticky glue and deadly skulls start to get in the way of the little guy and he has to increase his bounce speed and distance to leap over them.

All of this excess effort drains his life force at an alarming rate and if he keeps it up for too long, it's curtains.

Ziggy is not very spectacular graphically. Although the characters are nice and chunky, the playing area is in two colour Mode 4, and even though these vary from level to level, the effect is rather drab.

The animation is a bit jerky at times and the key response can be sluggish. This is a pity, because it detracts from what essentially is a very enjoyable game - and original too.

One feature I was pleased to see was a screen designer, so even if you can't complete the 200 rooms supplied you can at least define your own. And just for a change, there's a natty little tune that won't drive you round the bend because you can turn it off.

Ziggy is the type of game that you'll either love or hate and has got to qualify as one of the trickiest yet. So I strongly recommend that you try it before you buy it.

Julia Forester