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If there's a game that'll get you hooked it's Boulder Dash with its brilliant graphics and sound. You search caves and collect as many jewels in as short a time as possible to go through each mysterious tunnel to the next level.

If this sounds easy, you're in for a shock.

What you need to master in this game is strategy and planning - these will help you to detect where boulders are going to fall. And with 16 caves and five difficulty levels you're bound to be kept busy. If you want to see how to play there's a demo that'll give you a hint.

I started in cave A, level one. Then, to a bubbly tune, the screen scrolled backward with boulders and jewels appearing randomly. As if by magic, Rockford appeared with his hands on his hips, blinking his eyes and tapping his foot as if to say: "Well let's get moving".

At the top of the screen a tally is kept on your running score, the number of jewels you have to collect to do through the escape tunnel and a timer that starts at 150. You start off with three lives.

Controlling Rockford is just a matter of good joystick control. As he trunches along, shifting boulders with the strength of Atom Ant, the screen scrolls smoothly, vertically or horizontally, in whatever direction you want to go.

You have to work out carefully which of the brown boulders to shift because if you're not careful you'll find that they'll all come tumbling down sending the unfortunate Rockford to an early grave.

The next proved to be a killer, so I paused the action to plan a strategy. But this was to no avail because a warning sound came on to tell me I was running out of time.

Tackling other caves at various levels was an even greater challenge. In some you have to fight against deadly fireflies, in others there are enchanted walls, butterflies and more. In all Rockford has a lot to keep him busy, when he has to outmanoeuvre fireflies, black growing amoebae, transform butterflies and overcome other obstacles. If you're good you'll get a bonus try for every 500 points.

Completing caves D, H, Land Pentitles you to play a "playable intermission". Here you have to zap through four short interactive puzzles - if you complete them successfully you get a bonus Rockford.

The graphics in each cave are colourful and superbly done. As for the scrolling - well, it gets top marks, it's so smooth. The sound is also done well, and it's faithful to the action on the screen. For instance, when the boulders come crashing down it actually sounds as if an earthquake is about to begin.

Boulder Dash will give you plenty to do, there's lots of choice and a variety and some of the caves are really difficult to master.