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You know, you could get a computer to write the scenarios for these platformy/shooty games. Kid Icarus's is somewhat more flowery than most, but suffice it to say it's your usual lone warrior battling the rampant evil hordes that have laid waste to his world.

But while Kid Icarus is distinctly lacking in the plot department, there are some novel gameplay touches that make this just a little more than a bog-standard entry in the Gameboy software library. For a start, each of the sixteen levels is huge, and just exploring all the nooks and crannies provides lots of fun and more than a few surprises. This feeling of scale is accentuated by the fact that the scroll wraps around, so that if you keep going left, you find yourself back where you started.

Bopping the bad guys reveals a heart - the tougher the enemy the bigger the heart. These can be collected and used to buy equipment - such as hammers to smash your way into secret levels, maps of the level, and so on - in the shop rooms that turn up from time to time. Other rooms are waiting to be discovered where you may find bonus hearts, get help from friends, rejuvenate your health bar or, if you're unlucky, get attacked by vampire bats.

Every fourth level you have to defeat a super baddy guarding one of three magical weapons to help you in your quest. And you'll need all of them before you can defeat the Orcos leader at the end of the game.

1. Big, big challenge.
2. Enjoyable zap 'n jump gameplay.

1. Ultimately repetitive.
2. Very tough on later levels.

Doesn't look too hot, but things soon perk up once you get into it. If anything, Kid Icarus reminds me of a poor man's Turrican, with an equally massive and addictive challenge.

But, for all the game's size, it's not that hard - it should only take a couple of hours or so of solid play to win the first treasure.

While this difficulty setting prevents frustration setting in, it does hint that it isn't going to take that long to finish the game, especially with the battery-backed SAVE position.