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Rock 'N Roll has been suppressed by the melancholic strains of classical music: Mendelssohn is heard when once there was Minogue, Beethoven is swamping Bill Haley And The Comets. Jumping Jack Son, a bouncing blob related to the inimitable Jumping Jack Flash, is the only rock fan with enough cool quotient to flip the disc and let some real music roll.

He faces 32 stages divided equally between two skill levels. Game 2 is a gentle-paced affair for junior jivers only. Game B is a much tougher test designed for major music merchants. In both cases, the task is simple: JJS has to uncover hidden pop singles and stick them on coloured record players. When all the records are playing, he moves onto the next stage.

Jumping Jack Son begins every level from this chequered tile: if he stands on it, he's invincible and no monster can move. The tile also acts as an impassable barrier if Jack's being chased.

Each level consists of special zones with coloured tiles: as JJS bounces on them, his fluorescent hair cycles through a series of lurid shades, corresponding to the colour of the tile below him. When all the tiles in a zone register the same colour as one of the record players on that level, a record magically appears.

Storing the disc in his juke box, JJS simply has to place it on the record player and listen to that groovy beat! Time to continue the revenge mission on a new level...

There are plenty of classical instruments around to strike a note of discord. Most of them set off in hot pursuit when they spot JJS. If they catch him, it's curtains: a brief scrap leads to our beat hero's demise.

Without its excellent musical effects, Jumping Jack Son would be a mediocre puzzle game. The graphics are imaginative - bags of colour and some cartoon-style characters help convey the comic tone - but lack overall variety.

The front end is adequate, with two skill levels, an attract sequence and password system, and a massive high-score table, but it fails to compensate for the dominating drawback in the gameplay: repetition.

The cosmetic effects of bonus objects, classical instruments in pursuit and comic action fail to disguise gameplay at its most basic.

It's the same for every level apart from the bonus stages: colour the tiles, collect a record, play it. Jumping Jack Son is where it's at if you want an excellent interactive music demo. Anyone in search of compulsive action should steer clear.

The Atari version's graphics and gameplay are identical to the Amiga. The only deficit is that fewer sampled music tracks are featured.

Bad vibes for PC dudes: Infogrames ain't planning to liberate rock 'n roll on your machines.