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The strangely named Flicky is a small blue bird who gets his kicks by travelling into cat-infested territory, rescuing defenceless chicks from a fate rather like lining a pussy's stomach.

In order to save the day, Flicky travels around a horizontally scrolling platform environment, collecting chicks that follow his actions. Whole chains of chicks can be collected, all of them copying Flicky's movement until the whole train becomes a bizarre kind of snake. With the chicks safely in tow, Flicky then returns to the portal, helpfully marked "Flicky", which opens and admits any chicks Flicky has collected. Only when all the chicks are safely stowed away is the level complete.

The cats themselves kill Flicky on contact, but there are plenty of objects the bird-like one collects which are then lobbed to knock them out. Should the cats make contact with any of the chicks following Flicky, the chicks are left behind, and only contact with Flicky again makes them follow him.

There are countless screens of platform-related excitement, along with many bonus levels to test Flicky's skills to their limits!

In order to give the game a bit more variety, a bonus level occasionally crops up. Here, the pussy cats spring-board chicks up into the air, and it's down to Flicky to use his net to catch them.

Again, massive bonus points are on offer for catching all of the chicks. Later bonus levels see the chicks being catapulted in different directions and formations, thus making the game more challenging still!

During the first few levels, the only thing cropping up in the enemy sprite department are the cats. However, later levels produce a deadlier foe. Tiny green creatures travel around the platform, even hanging on to the underside of the platforms!

These creatures are dealt with in much the same way as the cats. Just pick up an item and chuck it at 'em!

Okay, you don't need to tell me. Flicky looks and sounds like the worst Megadrive in existence. Its retarded graphics and moronic sound make it appear like a shambling mockery of a sad travesty. But try playing it!

One game was all it took for me to become horribly, horribly hooked. Into the games room I repeatedly went, zombie-like until I'd had another fix. Even now I want another go. Its gameplay is just so perfect; a constant test of reflexes as you teeter on a knife-edge between playing it safe and ending up with a rubbish score, or running the big risks and going for the mega-score!

It's crazy I know, that a game so crappy, so laughably simple and pathetic-sounding as this can prove to be more addictive, more challenging and more long-lasting than virtually any other Megadrive game, but it's true. Try it out and see what I mean!

Immediate interest and pulse-racing excitement were not generated in copious quantities when I first saw Flicky being played. However, over the next few days, many people seemed to be "disappearing" into the games room to sneak a quick go.

Curiosity aroused, I decided to give Flicky a go, and to my incredible surprise I found myself addicted, despite the truly awful graphics (designed no doubt by some retarded nursery school graduate) and very annoying sound (cutesy tunes have never sounded so utterly nauseating!).

Flicky just has a completely brilliant game concept designed to keep you hooked to the console. And though the graphics are pathetic, this means there's tons of memory spare to provide you with many different levels. Most Megadrive games these days are completed in one sitting, but Flicky is different, and provides a truly long-lasting challenge. Buy it!

Presentation 29%
Completely rubbish. Even the title screen is pathetic, devoid of any options to tweak or even a nice pic to look at.

Graphics 31%
A graphical travesty, with tiny sprites and backdrops so awful, you'll think a six year old has drawn them.

Sound 31%
The music and spot effects are incredibly annoying monostrosities.

Playability 94%
Flicky offers a game so playable you'll want to keep on going for ages - it's that good!

Lastability 93%
So many levels to complete, Flicky offers months of satisfying play.

Overall 92%
An audio/visual abortion, but Flicky still delivers as one of the most playable games of the year!