Many so-called two-player games merely allow you to take it in turns to combat the opposition. Cashman is one of the few games where both players can battle it out on the screen at the same time.

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The object of this entertaining program is to collect as much money as you can while avoiding the strange creatures that also inhabit the screen. At the start you can choose to control the sailor, who looks remarkably like Popeye, or the Sheik, or both of them if you have a partner, when you both try to collect more than the other.

Each location contains several conveyor belts and trampolines as well as carefully placed dollar signs. If you jump at the right time, the money is added to your total; when all the dollars have disappeared from the screen, a new location appears. Some of the animals you meet are friendly, such as birds that can fly you to the top of the display, but look out for cats who reduce your length of time in the game, as well as bombs and apples that descend on you with little warning. As you complete one screen, another appears that increases in difficulty, but if you prefer, you can choose at the start where to begin your challenge and miss out the easy screens.

The concept of the game is good, and in spite of the fact that the figures are difficult to control, it isn't too hard to get a high score. If you choose a late entry point in the game, however, it gets a lot more difficult, with ramps appearing out of nowhere and worst of all, the loss of your ability to jump. This is the first time I have seen this arcade game on a home computer, and Microdeal appears to have a winner that should while away many an evening.