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Come on nerdy, you'll have to do better to get into the Bit Busters club.

Poor old Nerdy Chips McCallahan. He just can't seem to do anything right. All he wants to do is make friends, especially with Melinda the Mental Marvel, and he'd give his left arm to be able to join the elite Bit Busters Club.

Can you help him out? I think so, and it won't just be a labour of love either.

From the very start, Chip's Challenge will have you wanting more of the same, but don't worry', you'll get it.

The aim of the game is to overcome a series of tests laid down by the club. Sort out the puzzles and you might get to be a member.

Lesson one is a doddle to lead you in to the proceedings. Just collect the appropriate keys, open the doors, pick up the microchips and move towards the big blue, flashing finishing post.

Done it? I thought so, but don't get too confident, this is only just the beginning.

As you move onwards, the puzles become more and more intricate, and, to make matters worse, on many of the levels, there are set ways of achieving success. Work them out and you're through, get it wrong and it's back to the beginning again, Nerdy!

Each of the staggering 144 levels is set against the clock, which is easy to beat at the start. Finish a level first time around and you get full bonus points but, each time you have to restart, the bonus drops, so make a map, or keep a careful check on where you went wrong.

To make matters worse, some levels include transparent walls, traps, monsters, forcefields and walls of fire and water. Admittedly, you can find protection against many of them scattered around, but you may have to find them in the right order, or a very unhelpful thief could steal your gear and leave you stranded.

Pushing black blocks onto water will create mud banks to help you through various obstacles, so try not to push them into inaccessible corners.

It really is a matter of carefully does it. Experiment with toggle switches and trip buttons to knock out clones and try to make your quotas of chips.

By about level eight, things should start to hot up a bit and this is where the game is at its level best. The puzzles are very tricky and you might have to come up with some bizarre solutions to get through.

Your overall view of proceedings may be a little on the small side, but the graphics are marvellously clear and the scrolling is pretty smooth.

The soundtrack is very jolly, although it may get a little too much after a while but, above all else, the gameplay of Chip's Challenge is brilliant and totally addictive. If at first you don't succeed, you're going to want to keep on trying until you do.

You certainly won't get bored with this one for some time, so for exceptional value for money, go out and take up the challenge now.