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The planet Earth is dying and only you can save it! The evil Hoggish Greedly has decided to drill for oil on all of American's national parks. The American government haven't even noticed this, or indeed the squadrons of warplanes and armoured installations Greedly's constructed over spots of historical interest and natural beauty. Quite how this is destroying the whole of planet Earth is a bit of a mystery, but the fact remains. Mr Greedly is a very naughty boy and must be stopped.

Each level is split into two sections. The first is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up, where Captain Planet's sidekicks fight off the marauding hordes and wreak mass destruction upon Greedly's operation. The second half shows the Cap's efforts platform-style, with our man flying around destroying a huge enemy installation from the inside.

The Captain is aided in his quest by power-up items left behind by Hoggish Greedly's vanquished cronies. There are offensive icons such as bi-directional fire and speed-ups and defensive ones such as shield crystals and extra lives.

Captain Planet is a product of the combined powers of five magical rings in the possession of the Planeteers. As a result, he is able to utilize these powers to vanquish his enemies. On "outside" levels, fire blasts enemies with fireballs, water shoots waves, wind circles the vehicle with a protective hurricane, earth drops rocks on opponents lower than you and your heart enables you to rescue animals.

During "inside" levels, fire and earth are used to destroy things, water and wind help you get past hazards such as toxic gas or acid, and once more, heart power lets Captain Planet be nice to stranded beasties.

The outside levels each feature one of the Planeteers' three fabulous vehicles. The Geo-Cruiser on level one is a large spaceship that looks something like Thunderbird 2. Check out level three's Eco-Copter for a fast and manoeuvrable helicopter gunship.

On level five, the Planeteers control the Eco-Sub, an environmentally friendly submarine used to protect the aquatic locations in danger from Hoggish Greedly.

Captain Planet was bad enough as a cartoon, and it would seem the game is perfectly in keeping with this image. At first it doesn't seem so bad, although the shoot-'em-up element fails to tie in with the cartoon.

But once you've been killed in the same spot for what feels like the hundredth time, the whole thing wears more than a little thin. The exploration part of the game is mildly diverting, but it's all a bit dull, unimaginative and repetitive. Captain Planet's sad graphics and sound could be executed if it weren't for the game's habit of placing you in an impossible position from which there is no escape.

Even doubling the number of hits your vehicle can take to two would have improved the gameplay no end. A lot could have been done with Captain Planet, but even the environmental angle has come to nothing.

I've never seen the cartoon before, but if it's anything like this game, I'm glad I have a massive lie-in every Saturday morning. It's an odd sort of game, really. The "outside" shoot-'em-up levels all seem to be incredibly difficult.

It took me over an hour of frustrating play just to get past level one! The thing is, after that, the "inside" levels are pretty simple to complete and are far more rewarding.

The graphics throughout are okay, but not spectacular, and the sound is quite unfortunate, with some very bizarre tunes. If the gameplay on the shoot-'em-up levels had been tightened up, I'd have greeted Captain Planet far more enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, progress is always halted by the absurb difficulty level. Frankly, I was very disappointed with this, especially since it was designed and partly programmed by the creator of Boulder Dash.

Presentation 58%
A variety of intermissions, but there's a dull title screen and no game options to tweak.

Graphics 56%
Blocky, bland sprites cavort around dull, uninspiring backgrounds.

Sound 49%
The sounds are akin to a dying walrus being put through a paper shredder, with tunes that'll have you buying ear plugs.

Playability 57%
Initially off-putting, due to the badly judged difficulty level on the shoot-'em-up sequences.

Lastability 56%
The game is very difficult, but there are only five levels, and the whole thing is just so infuriating that it won't last.

Overall 56%
A sadly wasted licence. Bad graphics and sound coupled with frustrating gameplay make this one to leave on the shelf.