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Fingus and Winkle may sound like the names of two clap-clinic doctors, but they're local heroes in Gobliinsville. Rob Mead puts on his jester's cap and transports himself to an eccentric and puzzling world

King Angoulafre's son has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner in a remote castle by the evil Amoniak. To exact his revenge on his old rival, the King, Amoniak has turned the Prince into a court jester.

In desperation, the King turns to Modemus the Wizard and asks him for help. A message is sent out for local heroes to rescue the Prince and so your adventure begins... The first thing you notice about Gobliins 2 is its startling similarity to the original game. The same highly-detailed graphics and guffaw-inducing jokes are prominent in both.

However, where the first adventure placed you in charge of three Gobliiins, this time there are only two - Fingus and Winkle. The two Gobliins have vastly different personality traits but toether they complement one another - Fingus is well-behaved, polite and seriosu, while Winkle is a joker and a loudmouth. Doesn't sound like the Prince has got much hope, does it?

You're presented with a series of different game worlds - Village, Castle, Underwater and so on - each containing puzzles for you to solve. You can usually get either Fingus or Winkle to pick an object up and use it, but the key to each level is how you string the different elements together to get an end result.

After all, it's not every day you get to hit a chicken over the head with a piece of salami, is it? For example, when you get to Tom's tree house you have to rescue a ball, alert the Mayor and get a timepiece from the clockmaker.

However, to do all this you need to get certain objects to do things in particular order, and, if you choose the wrong Gobliin to use the object, the end results can be either comic or tragic. You also find plenty of red herrings dotted throughout the different worlds, so you could end up spending ages on something only to find it has no use whatsoever. Usually though, an object discovered on one screen can be used to good effect elsewhere.

When it comes to moving Fingus and Winkle around the screen, you can either use them separately or in tandem - for example, you sometimes need one of them to hold an object while the other does something to it.

This can get a bit confusing at first and you have to be positive about which Gobliin you want to use to do which thing, otherwise they wander around the screen shrugging and giggling at you while you decide what to do next.

Because Gobliins 2 is a linear puzzle-'em-up, you can easily get stuck on a single screen with no short-term hope of moving onto the next - it's not like Monkey Island where you can choose various routes to reach the same objective. Your only hope is to keep trying the same things in a number of different ways until you get a combination which clicks - it's extremely easy to get frustrated, even bored, if you get marooned for too long, but, oddly, it makes you even more determined to crack the level.

Part of this determination springs from the sheer enjoyment you get out of playing the game, gawping at the colourful graphics and grimacing at the visual jokes. The sound samples are pretty hot too, although the music and cackling can get aggravating after a while.

Gobliins 2 certainly lives up to the expectations created by the orginal. It's got great graphics and can be an addictive game to play. However, if you get stuck on a screen for any length of time you start to get bored and irritated - you could even end up reaching for the Off switch. The other major drawback is the control mechanism - it can be a tad awkward to try and get the hang of, especially when you're trying to control both characters at the same time.

Graphically superb romp with a wacky sense of humour.

Fail to solve a puzzle on one level and you get permanently stuck.