I had high hopes for Leapster as it loaded. The introductory screen was rather attractive and a nicely harmonised little tune was playing at a fair lick.

I pressed fire to start as instructed. I was greeted by a street scene, a little naive in its rendition perhaps, but inoffensive enough.

The jaunty tune had slowed to a turgid drone, and this was to get progressively more annoying as the game wore on.

Jimmy the Leapster was standing in the middle of the road at the way to school. Someone's mum hadn't taught him the Highway Code, that's for sure. He is apparently on his way to school to free his headmaster. Anyway, there he is, under your control, looking like some demented leprechaun, bowling down the street heading towards on-rushing motor cars.

Looking at the houses you see various objects shown fleetingly at one of the four windows in which they may appear. Jimmy must jump on to the cars, riding them until next to a window with something in it, and then leap at it to grab the object and be awarded points. He needs to collect objects to progress to the next level.

As you have probably guessed, the level after the High Street is the Nuclear Missile Site - most kids stroll through one on their way to school, don't they?

After the missile site, there is the Haunted Cemetery and then the school itself.

The pace is on the slow side and once the leaping on to car bonnet stunt is mastered, there is little to offer a challenge. I am afraid that I found the storyline a little disjointed, but maybe Red Rat will alter this in the production copy. The company has tried to make a dull game more interesting by including supposedly exciting locations but I'm sorry to say that it doesn't work, and I was left with the feeling that here was a game merely bashed out in time for Christmas.

Red Rat is capable of producing better than this.