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Toytown is never going to be the same again - you won't find Noddy playing with Bumpy Dog or annoying PC Plod anymore. Nope, he's confined himself to his bedroom and spends all day with his ST instead.

Noddy's Playtime is an educational software package with three difficulty levels, aimed at 3 to 7 year olds. There are eight different activities dotted around a variety of locations in Toytown which enable your child to learn different skills - there are counting, memory, observation, letter recognition and matching games, as well as jigsaw puzzles, a maze and a comprehensive art package. All of the different activities are linked together with the aid of Noddy and his little car - children can either guide him around Toytown themselves or they can choose the Autodrive option from the main menu which takes them straight to the desired activity. The whole package has been designed by educationalists and psychologists with the National Curriculum in mind.

The art package is one of the program's best features and you can access it at all times. There are nine different tool options including pattern fill, line draw and a spray can. Other options on the menu screen enable you to draw using different Noddy characters - Jumping Bean describe it as "electronic fuzzy felt". Because Noddy has separate drawing and menu screens, there's a lot of swapping between the two - this can be very irritating when you want to change brush shapes during the middle of a picture. Surely a better solution would have been to include all the tools and colour options on the same screen you wanted to draw on?

The other activities are generally rather good with great sound effects and bright, colourful graphics. The package also has a wicked sense of humour - get all the answers right in the market and PC Plod falls into a barrel of water, while you can squash jelly rabbits in the N and B Works factory. However, Noddy's Piano is unbelievably difficult at the hardest level - it plays you a tune once and then you have to repeat it from memory with no help whatsoever. Every time you make a mistake Big Ears blows you a raspberry and shows you the next correct note - OK for budding Mozarts or kids with photographic memories, but you could end up with tears of frustration streaming down your face because you can't play Three Blind Mice without Big Ears shaking his head irritably at you.

Getting around in Noddy's Playtime is no problem because virtually everything is controlled with the mouse. However, these does seem to be an inordinate amount of disk-swaps - every time you leave the Driving option and enter an activity, in fact - you may need to ask a grown-up to help you if you get stuck.

Noddy's Playtime has an immediate impact on you - it's bright, cheerful and fun and packed with playability. However, you can't help thinking that some of the activities are too advanced for the target age group, but if you can live with all those disk swaps, this is a hit.