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When I saw the title Zoomerang, my first thought was of some spunky jet-powered bent stick from Oz just right for smegging all those nasties that were bound to be crammed in on each level.

So imagine my surprise when I was confronted by the sight of a large green ball bouncing around a room filled with blue triangles! Faster than a speeding bullet I reached a logical conclusion... oooer!

Several cups of coffee later and having taken the precaution of reading the blurb, I can safely say that what we have here is a very queer bird indeed.

There's this evil Empress dude called Min and you're in her castle (most likely for tea and scones) but now you want to go home. However (and here's the catch), she's separated your mind from your body (neat trick), probably when you were nibbling that digestive bicky, and popped the bit of you with arms and legs into a sickly green bubble.

So much for the plot! Getting down to the nitty-gritty I have to say that the sound is dire. The title screen boasts music by 'Nice Noise', removing the word 'nice' from this legend gives a fair approximation of the goods on offer as the music here is slow, funereal and crap.

During the game the tune's a touch more racy, in keeping with the gameplay, but very soon becomes an annoying distraction. Switch off time measured in minutes.

Once into the game, you find a fast, playable and fiendish puzzler (bucketfuls of 'De leettle grey cells' needed). You're a disembodied mind (remember that digestive) controlling the on-screen cursor as your bubble-enveloped body wangs around at speed, banging into normal walls, energy-draining force walls, green blocks and blue triangles.

The last two are 'deflectors' which you can switch on and off in the case of the blocks, or flip around with the triangles. Blocks deflect you through 180 degrees, triangles 90 degrees - getting the idea? Yep, arrange the deflector jobbles to form a safe path through the rooms collecting gems and energy. Cinch.

Wrong! 'Cos there's loads of low behaviour going off all over the shop (just like the office when I'm about), lots of different-coloured balloons, ghosts, things that look like disembodied cats' heads and rucks more.

All persist in chasing you about. They can be trapped with the deflectors, bounced off walls to open new doors, but mostly just kill you. Getting out of rooms is no easier as some of the doors are one-way and you have to pass over flashes on the floor to reverse them. With 100 rooms split into four levels and nine gems to collect to pass between them, this is no pushover.

Graphically, Zoomerang is adequate: nicely drawn backgrounds, basic fairly flicker-free sprites. The gameplay's blinkin' hard but addictiveness just keeps you coming back. 85%

Aaaaargh! What a game of dubious parentage Zoomerang is. If you ain't bald when you start playing, you'll look like Captain Picard by the time you've finished. Frustration is the first order of the day, with many foul curses being hurled around the room.

But after donning a straitjacket, and pausing to kick the nearest person, the situation does become clearer (if no less hectic).

Graphically, Zoomerang is very colourful, the sprites aren't that complicated (mainly spheres and triangles, etc) but they are nicely drawn and animated. Overall, you need the patience of several dozen saints, but Zoomerang is just about worth the effort. 76%

Presentation 66%
Only average - there are no options at all.

Graphics 61%
They do the job but are nothing mega.

Sound 40%
The percentage of this says it all, doesn't it?

Hookability 80%
Frustrating but you'll keep coming back for more.

Lastability 84%
Tough enough to last and drag you back

Overall 81%