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Chip's getting pretty desperate for a girlfriend. But not any girlfriend - he wants to go out with Melinda the Mental Marvel. Brains or beauty? She's got 'em both. However, she's got her reputation to consider, so she's set him a task. Well, 140 taskettes actually. (Doesn't want much, does she? Flippin 'eck!) Our reviewer went to give poor Chip a hand...

Nerdy old Chip MacCallahan has a problem. It's not the fact that he's a skinny geek, has spots, wears glasses and doesn't have any friends at all. Well, yes, that is kind of a problem, but this problem's even bigger. He fancies Melinda the mental marvel - school brainbox and bimbette all rolled into one - like a man with Monopoly money fancies a Big Mac with extra fries.

As you can imagine, a skinny geek with spots, specs and all the social graces of a dung beetle has about as much chance of getting off with Melinda as a small piece of gravel. However, this high IQ heartthrob realises that beneath Chip's vile exterior beats a heart of gold; even this poor nerd deserves a crack at the title, so she offers him a challenge. If Chip can complete it, he can join her elite computer club, the Bit Busters (and maybe even cop for a bit of a snog as well).

Obviously Chip accepts (otherwise the game would be called Chip Stays Home or something and be very boring indeed) and sets forth on his task. To stand any chance of rubbing Zits with Melinda, Chip has to enter a series of mazes and recover all the silicon chips that lie within (just how Melinda has managed to construct these vast labyrinths remains something of a mystery).

As you can imagine, Melinda isn't going to let this little creep within groping distance without a fight and has prepared all manner of devious problems to make life as difficult as possible for Chip, not least of which is the fact that there are 140 mazes to complete. By the time he's finished, Chip will probably stand a better chance of joining the local cemetery than the Bit Busters...

Each maze is set over several screens which scroll around, keeping Chip in the middle of the action. Chip is guided about via the joystick and solves puzzles by a combination of walking over items to pick them up, stepping on switches to turn them on or off and pushing tiles along.

The first ten levels are training levels where Chip is gradually introduced to the variety of traps and hazards which he is due to meet over the course of the next 130, At first, it's simply a matter of collecting the colour-coded keys, opening the right doors, picking up all the chips and toddling off to the pulsing exit. Then, bit by bit (or should that be byte by byte?), Chip falls foul of increasingly devious puzzles and problems. For instance, to walk on water, Chip first has to find the blue water shield. Or maybe, he could push the red tiles onto the water to make a bridge...

As well as invisible walls, switches, one-way barriers and the like, Chip must contend with a variety of mobile hazards. Skittering bugs, tanks that move back and forth, chomping mouths and room-orbiting fireballs all prove fatal to Chip. One touch and it's back to the start of the level. But relax. You're provided with a four letter code so that you can restart the game from where you left off. And if you're having problems with a specific level, you even have the option of skipping it!

There's a jaunty soundtrack to jolly things along, but it's perhaps a little too jaunty. After a few seconds of extremely blissed-out jauntiness, I was more than happy to opt for sound effects only.

CC's only downfall is in its visuals - couldn't we have had some smooth scrolling or neater animation? Still, Chip's Challenge is playable in the extreme. Each level is different from the last and the programmers must have a vicious sense of humour: you're often tempted into finding wildly complex solutions when simply moving one block would do!

Only you know deep down if puzzle games leave you cold or give you the hots. If it's the latter, Chip's Challenge is one of the best available. But be warned: once you start playing, you won't want to stop - and with 140 very playable levels it could be a long night!

1. Jerky scrolling is the main moan.

1. Incredibly devious designs are extremely challenging to play and rewarding to solve.
2. Every level offers a different challenge - you never know what to expect next.
3. Merciful level skip option and coded restart help keep you Chipping away!
4. 140 big levels - more than enough to soften the most hardened of puzzlers.
5. Plenty of good presentation points, like the intro sequence and general ease of use.
6. The multi-load is handled pretty well - tape users don't suffer too badly.
7. It's just pure addiction!