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What would you expect from a new software label which has grown out of a Paris-based independent record company? Style? Class? Gauloise smoking adventures? Or some very pretty graphics and music? You certainly get the latter with Delphine Software's first release.

Bio Challenge is an arcade game which is based in the distant future - when mankind has become so weak that the only way for you to survive is to have your brain grafted into a metal shell. But as K.L.I.P.T, Half man, half machine, you can nonetheless perform nifty feats of acrobatics.

Numerous globular beasties roam around, each one with the intent to sap your life-giving reserves of oil. It's up to you to crush them out of existence by dropping onto them the numerous, floating, anti-gravity platforms that are around. Do this by somersaulting on one, or stand to its right or left and do a high spin. Both actions have the effect of weakening a platform.

A squashed monster can yield points or one of the for pieces of amulet which you'll need to progress to the next level. Now and again you will need to return to the sphere at the beginning of play to deposit remains. You can teleport between planets, and on your travels you'll come across various flying cauldrons which bring you such bonuses as increased armour and additional oil capacity.

Without this added protection, you will have to destroy the flying beasts by doing a high spin. You don't have to kill them, but doing this will earn you extra points, and if you collide with them when you're not in a spin, you will lose a little oil.

Once you have all four pieces of the amulet, you go back to the sphere and gain admission to the Guardian's cavern. The standard end-of-level nasty dwelleth inside, and this section at long last gives you the chance to fire off a few bullets as you are transformed into a flying cannon. Do watch out, though, as you only have a limited amount of ammunition at your disposal.

While the plot of this game hardly breaks new barriers, the death-by-cosmic-paving-slab scenes are a very nice touch, and finding the various pieces of amulet is a neat puzzle. When I heard that Richard Clayderman's producer was responsible for the soundtrack I must admit to having visions of 'Housewives Choice' and MAntovani strings. In fact, the score ain't half bad. It's very French sort of movie sounding - not quite "Betty Bleu" but reminiscent of the chase scenes in the gallic thriller, "Diva".

It's a truly pretty game, too. The future, a la Bio Challenge, may be inhospitable, but many of its views are colour co-ordinated like an interior decorator's dream. Lots and lots of subtle shades and bog house pastel hues.

Bio Challenge is definitely worth a look. It isn't the most absorbing game you'll have ever played, and there might have been just a little more to do. But it's nevertheless an impressive release, and it's quite the cutest post-holocaust game I've seen in a long while.