Diamond Mine 2 is the sequel to an obscure little game by the name of (You guessed it!) Diamond Mine, with which I have never crossed paths.

The sequel puts you in a diamond mine which you have purchased with the wealth gained from the first game. Getting to your riches is the problem. The diamonds are beyond reach and even if you could get to them, would you wish to risk it? I doubt it very much - this is a mine where greed could most definitely be your downfall. It has nasty little unidentified inhabitants who don't look too friendly.

To overcome this problem, you build a machine by the name of Diamo. This machine has a robotic arm that will pick up all the diamonds, so you can return to your Missus loaded with gems.

No, you can't. Unfortunately, Diamo doesn't have artificial intelligence, so you have to control the robot arm and pick up the gems. This is done simply by moving the joystick in the appropriate direction and pressing Fire to retract it. It picks up the gems automatically. Retracting the arm is one of the major obstacles if you, like me, instinctively move the joystick in the reverse direction you will find yourself losing one of your mingy three lives.

The other way to lose lives is to be simple enough to let a mine-creature touch the arm. The way to stop this happening is to just press 'fire' when they get a millimetre away from your arm. The good thing is that, while you are retracting the arm, the UMOs freeze. The only other way to die is to run out of time, but this had about as much chance of happening when I played as Bristol City winning the First Division. [Happened often, did it? - Ed]

Diamond Mine 2 is a simple but playable Pac-Man style game. Its appeal is not in its graphics or sound but in its playability. I am in two minds as to whether to recommend it to all, as fans of state-of-the-art graphics won't see it my way. But as stupid as an aristocrat in the French revolution, I'll stick my neck out.