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Alright, you horrible lot. This is entirely your fault. If you hadn't gone out and bought Jack The Nipper in such numbers, Gremlin wouldn't have succumbed to the temptation to produce Jack The Nipper II: In Coconut Capers. OK, so perhaps it was the Spectrum mob that did it, but whoever it was had better own up.

I cannot tell a lie. I liked Jack The Nipper. So the second in the series was awaited with interest at Dunhackin. In this sequel, the lad has baled out over a jungle in transit to Australia, to where a disgruntled government has deported him (wish they'd deport me).

First priority: Stay on the run from Mum and Dad. Second priority: cause as much mischief as possible. These two priorities are, of course, as interchangeable as the wee horror's nappies.

But what childish misdemeanours can be perpetrated in the dense African jungle? The lad has two pockets, the weapons stash and the holder for naughtiness items.

Weapons - like the blowpipe - can be used against all and sundry, while naughty items have more specific and ingenious uses which have to be discovered. What can the onion be used for, when the nearest Big Mac is 3,000 miles away?

Other mysteries crowd in. The whole set of jungle denizens are clad in shades, and an elephant in dark glasses is summat else. The standard batch of fluttering, crawling, hissing and deadly things prowl the tree-lined pathways Jack treads. Or should that be toddles. Anyway, there are also a good number of jungle creepers, which the kid can swing from to avoid any exceptionally infested crocodile ponds.

It's worth mentioning at this point the glorious musical effects that are scattered throughout the game; a short burst of Puppet on a string accompanies a successful grab at a rope, and many other tunes await the explorer who knows his or her music.

The titular coconuts are used to discourage the natives depicted in stereotypical Victorian fashion with ones through their hair - and theirs by dropping them from on high. Unlike the original Jack The Nipper, there's no concept of nappy rash as the game progresses, rather a score (for puzzles solved and progress made) and a naughtyometer (for havoc wreaked). The game can be played for a maximum on either front. I get the feeling that the Gremlins would rather you played it for the latter, first 'cos it's more fun and second cos there's the offer of a cheat sheet to help you achieve still greater wayward ratings.

The usual care seems to have been taken by the Sheffield lot with graphics and ancillary items. There's a lot of jungle, and usually something new waiting just at the point where you starts to wonder whether everything's been seen.

It's a different game from Jack The Nipper I, more complex and more colourful, but seems to keep the good points of the original. For once, a sequel that presents a whole new set of puzzles while keeping the spirit of what's gone before.

You Tarzan, me Liz. An adequate jungle romp which reminded me of Three Weeks In Paradise. I hope it's the last we see of the little lad.

Perhaps there will be space for Jack the juvenile delinquent, or Jack the young man in a few years time, but meanwhile this stands a good chance of looking dated and cashing in on the sequel bandwagon.

I'd have assumed that Jack The Nipper II would look a bit like Jack The Nipper I. I'd have been wrong. This looks more like a Mikro-Gen game. Not that that is a bad thing.

If you want to be analytical and boring you could complain that the sprites are monochromatic and that it looks a lot like a Spectrum game. Jack saves himself by being a cute little kid. All in all I preferred the precursor.

Jack lives on, and the experience his parents have garnered since the first issue shows in the smoother action, the better graphics and the depth of play. I really enjoyed this game, even if it's another in an infinite line of platform-based concepts.

What's more, the Amstrad version seems to be more than just a Spectrum conversion, which is markedly better than Jack One. Should keep you busy.