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The gauntlet is down. Dare you pick it up to save your beloved Pearly?

There's something decidedly fishy going on in Dewdrop Land. Gormless zombies are roaming the countryside amongst dragons, giant snails, mutated butterflies and other abominations of creation.

Who's behind all this? The twisted professor of course. Fascinated with his own dreams about creation, he has transformed this once peaceful place into a monsters' playground and now he wants to go one step further. The gauntlet is down. Dare you pick it up to save your beloved Pearly?

With his latest horrific experiment, the secret of eternal youth is within his grasp, but he needs the blood of a nubile young woman for it to succeed and this is where you get involved.

Pearly, your best girlie, has been kidnapped and it's up to you to save her from a fate worse than death over six levels of epic derring-do against the clock.

Now, anybody who dismisses Flimbo's Quest as a cutesie-cutesie platform jumpy and not for serious minded games players, had better think again. As an arcade style adventure, this blast is going to be very hard to beat.

The graphics, which have been designed with console play in mind, are visually stunning, the backdrops are impressive and varied and control of Flimbo through the screens is very easy indeed, with the chance to change direction mid-jump and extremely smooth scrolling. To save your beloved Pearly, you will need to locate letters to passwords, which are held by baddies highlited on your status area.

When you shoot the baddie, take the scroll back to your only ally, Baz the Magician, at the shop and hand it over. The idea, of course, is to complete the password and so progress onto the next level.

In the shop, you can also purchase numerous weapons, extra time and, if you are lucky enough to have plenty of money, the whole password. As you shoot down the ugly beasts in your way, be sure to pick up any money you find, as well as the hearts. Shoot these to change their colours and collect five to gain a much needed life.

As in all adventure games, be prepared to investigate any leads you can find. Closed doors can lead you into a veritable gold mine, but you'll also need to take care as you pry into the backdrops; there are some pretty scary giant monsters lurking around.

The gameplay of Flimbo's Quest is excellent - not too hard to start with and by no means easy as you progress through the vastly different levels on your way to the skeleton filled castle at the end. Be sure to make good use of the shop on each level, especially to buy the special weapons on display as the monsters do get harder to deal with as you go on.

As with many of the offerings from System 3, Flimbo is going to be a guaranteed classic. Its originality, graphics, varied sound effects and ease of controllability make it totally addictive and, by utilising more screen space, you get a much larger playing area to boot.

If you're looking for that extra special game to see you through Christmas this year, try Flimbo - he won't let you down.