We can forgive the fact that the plot seems to start halfway through, leaving you feeling like you missed something along the way. We can forgive the poor excuse as to why He-Man is suddenly not the most powerful man in the universe. We can even manage to forgive the lack of graphical polish and a camera that's often obscured by the scenery. What we find a lot harder to forgive, however, is the abysmal PSone gameplay, which feels almost as dated as the original '80s cartoon.

If you've never seen the cartoon, He-Man is a hero so powerful that in one episode of the original series he lifted up Castle Grayskull (his spiritual home) and carried it away from danger. A castle. A whole bloody building. How does the game start? 'Find the key to open the door'. A man who lifted the fantasy equivalent of St Paul's Cathedral reduced to this And what's behind the door? Another key! Genius.

Compounding the brain-weeping drudgery of pummelling stupid enemies are the sorts of hazardous obstacles that time has sensibly managed to forget - things like pounding pistons inexplicably placed in the middle of an otherwise featureless corridor, or surprisingly well-sequenced jets of flame. It's painful, messy material, executed with all the style and finesse of a kick in the teeth. Which to fans of the real He-Man, it will be.

Graphics 40%
Lumpy and featureless.

Sound 30%
Ranges from weird to crap.

Gameplay 30%
Unforgivably, mind-numbingly dull.

Lifespan 30%
How far are you from the off button?

Overall 30%
The plastic toys that accompanied the cartoon are more fun to play with than this lame rubbish, and they're more articulate, too.