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This game forces me to come straight to the point. The similarities between Basildon Bond and Impossible Mission cannot be ignored for a moment when you come to play this. It is a clone trading on the success of the original. That said, it's made a reasonable attempt at aping its mentor.

The idea behind the game is to rescue Russ Abbot from the clutches of a rival comedy act. This may, bearing in mind the quality of Russ's "atmosphere" single be a major stumbling point, but I overcame my prejudices and made an attempt to rescue him.

The action is centred on a TV studios where Russ is secreted in some dank dressing room. As Bond you have to search the place, collect jokes and answers and find the secret room. The similarities may not sound overbearing but as soon as you see the style of the game you'll see my point. Cameras patrol back and forth like the droids in the Epyx original and the jokes and answers are hidden in various items of furniture and equipment that are littered around. Even the agent's echoing footsteps are there.

Missing though from this is the lift that took you up and down the professor's complex. Another game takes over for inspiration here. The old classic on the Amstrad (The C64 version was naff) Sorcery. Bond goes from room to room carrying various useful items complete with the creaking of doors.

All this is not as off-putting as it probably sounds. I can't think of many better games to take inspiration from. The problem really lies in the lack of atmosphere (ha ha) that this version has in comparison to its idols. Added to this Probe have substituted some of the gameplay for pure niggly toughness. To get going in the game you have to find a diskette to boot the computer up with. Not easy I can tell you. Then, whenever you find a joke of answer, a face like a balloon floats down and nicks it off you. Sometimes there's nowhere to hide from it. Furthermore, you have to find the right object to search an item of furniture with, but each time you start a new game the items and the objects they apply to change. If you think of the possibilities involved with forty rooms and even more objects, then you'll start to realise this is no picnic.

When all this is said and done I think you might want to give it a go anyway. It's certainly a challenge. You won't get the class and style of the Epyx original but you will get a well executed game of the same type. I'd rather have that than a load of drivel.