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Strange coincidences of our time: Gremlin are about to product the game of Plan Nine From Outer Space. In the original film there's a woman called Vampira who wanders around dressed in black and being horrible - but not saying anything. Here's the strange thing: Elvira *looks exactly the same as Vampira*. Uncanny coincidence, that. Not that it matters to the game much. From its subtitle, you may guess that this is far removed from last year's adventure foray with the same Elvira character. We're talking scrolly platform stuff here - much jumping, many enemies, treasure-rooms-full of things to find and plenty of parallax.

For reasons best left undiscussed, Elvira has to work her way through two worlds - Fire and Ice - to reach the castle of the king to, um, become queen of the world, or something. Each world is a huge collection of dodgy platforms arranged in the usual devious patterns and peopled by appropriately nasty denizens - you've got your monks, your bees, your dragons, your big Blood Money-style monsters, and, of course, your podgy little pods that block entrances.

Here and there, but mostly there, you can find those rolled-up parchments which always represent spells - these are jolly useful to have around in a fight. A quick scan of the parchment and you're skilled in walking on fire, producing icy blasts, producing - er, fiery blasts, and all manner of stuff to help you out. Spells only last a while though, so tarry ye not when the spell is hot (as Ogden Nash was wont to say).

If you meet the Trader - an old geezer who seems to have taken up permanent residence on one of the platforms - you have the opportunity of swapping some of your spells for other (but not necessarily more useful) ones. You can also buy information using runes, which can also be collected around the levels.

Elvira's a great little mover, but she isn't exactly speedy. There are occasions, as her expertly-crafted sprite slinks by, when you wish she would just stop being so laid-back and get on with it. Still, if you were wearing her get-up you probably wouldn't be too nippy either. This woman is seriously skilled in high-heeled jumping techniques. The scrolling is excellent - true parallax, with the backgrounds moving completely independently of the foreground. It's an effect you don't often see done properly in ST games, but it gives the game a marvellous arcadey look. The sprites and backgrounds look vaguely similar to those in First Samurai, but Elvira's are much nicer (yes, snigger, snigger), being more colourful, better animated and distinctly good.

Of course, you can't expect excellent graphics and excellent sound, oh dear me, no. Samples would have been nice, but instead we get the usual white noise ssshes and whooshes.

Elvira has almost everything going for it except for its concept and sound. The levels are huge and packed with gameplay, but the lack of any restart points or passwords in each world may put you off. You do get plenty of lives and the chance to renew your energy regularly, but completing the game is still a marathon task.

Psygnosis are supposedly famed for producing this sort of game, but rarely pull it off. If you want to see what a platform game should look like in the '90s, why not make an appointment with Elvira? It's tacky, it's a tired format, but hey! - this game can kick ass.

1. Definitely a First Samurai look to the graphics, with some Gods elements creeping in here and there. You can expect clearer, bolder and better graphics from Elvira though.
2. Sound is disappointing. With some samples and a bit more pzazz in this department this could have been a really stonking game instead of just a fairly stonking one.
3. Concept as original as a Status Quo single, but it's the style of the game that counts.