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Chip's collecting chips - microchips, that is. So what's the challenge? The challenge is, he's got to find his way through 150 levels of mazes, puzzles and traps to do it. Neil Jackson asks whether Chip has got what it takes...

Chip's Challenge is a puzzle game featuring a young lad (named Chip - hence, I suppose, the title) with a quest on his hands. To prevent himself being labelled a dweeb, he must complete 150 levels of nightmarish brainteasers designed for him by the girl of his dreams. If he does it, she'll reward him beyond his wildest dreams: she'll get him in the computer club and he can go glory-basking. (Then again, if those are the wildest dreams he can manage, maybe he is a dweeb...)

You control Chip by joystick and must guide him through the mazes, puzzles and traps, collecting microchips on the way. Each level has the same basic rules: you must collect all available chips (which ones they are is indicated at the beginning); you must tackle tricks in the right order to avoid getting trapped; and at the end of the countdown you've had your chips (groan!).

There are plenty of distractions to make life difficult. All kinds of monsters inhabit the levels - some dozy, some dynamic, but all deadly. They all have predictable patterns and there's a straightforward (but not necessarily easy) way of defeating them all. Some require the use of tools that you find on the way, others need a murder-by-proxy method and some can be guided to their own suicide if you're smart enough.

Complete each level by grabbing all the chips and heading for the exit and you're given a score increase and maybe a time bonus. On the next level you get a four-letter code you can use to bypass earlier levels if you reboot. Then there's more of the same - but put together in a totally different, more difficult way.

Chip's Challenge is not going to win any prizes for classy graphics, rip-roaring sound or stunning programming. It looks like an 8-bit game or something you'd find on a console. But though the lack of ST-style graphics is a sad omission, it doesn't detract from the game too much except when there are huge numbers of baddies to update. Then the screen scroll and Chip's movement noticeably chug along.

Despite its dated look, Chip's Challenge is a success. It's incredibly addictive, requires lots of brainpower to beat, and is extremely difficult to put down. Every defeat is a major personal disaster, but you always think you have the solution - and in this way Chip's Challenge sucks you in to endless playing sessions. Dinners mount up outside your door, Christmas comes and goes, and your New Year's Resolution is to finish level 150 or die in the attempt. A fantastic, fun-for-all-the-family game which no serious puzzle addict can afford to miss.