A crazed gorilla strikes again in this version of the popular arcade game. I had never played this type of game before, and therefore found the lack of detail in the instructions very frustrating. However, a young friend came to the rescue, instantly putting my high scores of 100 and 150 to shame.

After watching the 'technique' for a few minutes, I was away... On the first stage, ladder climbing and collecting objects is hampered only by the occasional barrel plummeting down the scaffolding. I quickly learned to ignore the umbrellas and handbags as these scored only 50 points each, and this was not commensurate with the time saved by reaching the top quickly.

The second stage consisted of gaps in the path which could only be navigated by a nifty forward jump. Again, instructions on how to do this were lacking, but trial and error made this aspect more demanding. Thirdly came the lifts. Timing here was essential (and at first I found it difficult to get here often enough to practise) as jumping on and off the lifts, while dodging barrels, is a precise art.

On the fourth and final stage, roofing supports have to be knocked out, and when complete the scaffolding collapses, bringing about the demise of the unkindly ape. But watch out for the deadly fireballs!

My first attempts with keyboard control were ungainly, with p, 1 and shift being used for UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT and JUMP respectively, I did obtain high scores this way, but after the frustration of being belted by a barrel, I was annoyed at losing my hard-won chance to see my name in lights. Enter your name AAA prompted the screen. I typed in my initials and nothing happened. After thumping the return key several times (to see if it still worked, you understand) my high score was put down to one Albert Algernon Andrews, or someone with similar prefixes.

Further trials with the joystick solved the problem. I think it bad that this game is obviously geared to a joystick user, when hours of hard experience have proved to my satisfaction that keyboard control, particularly when jumping on the lifts, is by far superior. A few instructions on how to claim your reward would have cost nothing, but would certainly have added to my enjoyment.

But don't let these minor criticisms put you off an otherwise excellent game. It is challenging, fun, at times irritating, and above all, very good entertainment.