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And now for something completely different from Peter Cooke, the author of Invincible Island, who has set his new graphics adventure in the grim industrial town of Scarthorpe.

Your only desire is to escape from the town, as well it might be when you consider that among its more attractive boulevards are Muck Alley and Amputation Road. There's a scoring system as a guide to how well you do, with a maximum possible score of 22.

Once the adventure is running it proves to be a treat, as different from conventional games as Mad Martha was when it appeared. The grimy town offers lots of scope for amusing locations not to mention hazards like the football fans with an 'O' Level in mugging.

Each location's graphics take up the top third of the screen, while underneath is the description, visible exits, objects, and room for your responses. Movement commands are limited to the four compass directions, with the occasional up and down. You can carry and wear up to nine items, but if you try typing HELP all you learn is you're going to need it.

Beginning in your bedroom the first task is to leave the house, which is not too difficult, so long as you take care not to get arrested for indecent exposure. You can then wander the tasteful streets of Scathorpe looking for clues to a possible escape route. Be on your best behaviour though - the police here are red-hot, ever-vigilant for loiterers and litterers alike. The first trick you must learn is how to get out of jail, and you also need to know how to get out of hospital where you're flung with equal regularity, courtesy of the football fans or the inclement weather.

Responses to your inputs come quickly, and as usual in this type of game the main delays are in waiting for the graphics for each location to be drawn as you move about.

To be honest, it isn't too difficult to complete the bulk of the adventure, but the last few tasks are ingeniously worked out and kept me coming back for more.

There are a lot of laughs in Urban Upstart, plus a fair bit of brain-stretching, and there's no doubt that it's the best thing yet from Richard Shepherd Software.