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If you go down to the woods today, it's the keeper of the bells you encounter, not teddy bears. A combination of running and bouncing will take you to the next bell and up a level until you rescue the fair damsel Esmeralda.

You must rescue the imprisoned Esmeralda from the castle stronghold. To do this you must scale the castle walls, jump over the fireballs, avoid the pursuing knight, swing over the pit and other openings and ring the bells along the way.

The game loads in the usual way (SHIFT and RUN/STOP). The title page is a demo of Quasimodo's quest which, along with the introduction, is accompanied inexplicably by the strains of "Teddy Bears' Picnic". There's an option of instructions, and choice of keyboard or joystick. Both are equally responsive and it is refreshing to have a choice of controls.

Once the game has been started Quasimodo has to run and jump along the ramparts avoiding the fireballs. To complete the first level you must ring the bell and the game moves up a level. The second level is completely different and a great deal more tricky. You must swing across a pit on an ever-swinging rope. The difficult part is getting off the rope safely.

The third level is more jumping over ramparts. While this is going on, Quasimodo is being chased by a knight. The game gets more complex at each level, and it requires a good deal of thought and strategy on some levels as well as rapid reactions and reflexes. Level five has fireballs coming from both directions and arrows as well, with the knight still pursuing you steadily.

Hunchback has 15 levels of play, before you rescue Esmeralda on completion of the last level. My five lives always seemed to expire on the fifth level. Hunchback displays the current score and number of lives left along with the bonus score which is awarded for losing no lives. There is also a high score table for those who can play well.

The glossy advertising on the packaging was spot on in the case of Hunchback. It is good fun and exciting, albeit very frustrating. The use of sprites is excellent, as is the use of sound and colour.