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You'd have thought that publishers determined to bring out unoriginal games would at least look for the best ideas to imitate. But Big Ben is a pretty uninspired mismatch.

On loading, you find your hero trapped in a futuristic labyrinth. Your task is to collect 30 yellow lumps (gold coins) which will enable you to get to a bell... which, if rung, may secure your freedom. Your hero can jump, run and crawl via keyboard or wielding your joystick in the usual manner. Using the keys is simple and the figure's movements are smooth and responsive.

However, it's standard stuff, and the storyline is hardly enough to make your imagination run riot. Oh yes - our hero is called Giz and he has been incarcerated by an evil wizard, called Jem. Why all this about the coins and the bell I don't know. But it I were an evil wizard I wouldn't give me prisoners such silly chances to escape - though this task does have a moderate degree of difficulty.

Apart from crashing into walls and tripping booby traps, there are three enemy helicopters to avoid as they fly around the complex. When you use your 'turbo plane' - as you must to reach the upper levels of the complex - you'll have to work out a way of refuelling because your plane eventually turns red and, within seconds, explodes.

Many of the nooks and crannies you'll have to delve into in order to collect the required coins are very tight. But things are even tighter higher up where it's sometimes difficult to see how you can possibly guide your turbo plane through. It's simple - the edges of the plane and the walls occasionally overlap.