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Jonny Quest is another Hanna Barbera character from the huge Hi-Tec pool of cartoon people. Basically, he's not your knockabout Scooby-Doo type idiot, but an intelligent kid whose scientific-genius dad has mysteriously been kidnapped by the frightening Dr Zin. Thus, Jonny must go on all sorts of quests to find him (well with a surname like Quest, what did you expect?).

As well as his dad, Dr Zin has kidnapped Jonny's chum, Hadji: his bodyguard, Race Bannon; and even his dog, Bandit. Hmm. Something tells me this evil Dr Zin chappie is rather a fan of the old kidnap ploy.

Jonny must set off on his own to rescue this veritable football stadium-full of friends and relatives. Being a brave lad, this doesn't worry him too much. So on one beautiful spring day, when he hasn't got anything better to do, he decides to take the plunge and get rescuing.

Yep, you've guessed it - we've got a platform-style adventure on our hands. There are 133 screens to explore, over a hundred frames of animation for the main sprite, and dozens of collectables, baddies, and other, er, things to find, fight and be killed by.

The thing about the Jonny Quest cartoon on TV is that it's pretty realistic. People don't drop anvils on each other's heads, or fall thousands of feet onto roads. This realism is reflected in the game. Hi-Tec could have gone for the wacky, brightly coloured world of Scooby or Top Cat, but instead went for smooth animations, lifelike backdrops and decent-looking sprites.

As you play, you'll soon realise the way the quest has been constructed. You'll come across either a door or a key. Keep going and you'll find the matching key/door. Not too difficult, I think you'll find.

But by far the worst thing about Jonny Quest is that you only get one life. There's a health bar that runs along the top of the screen's info section, but once that gets to zero, you're dead and must start again. That's it. Finito. Hasta la vista. Jumping on and off things (which is obviously something you have to do a lot) uses up health from your bar, and getting into fights with the malevolent Dr Zin's henchmen completely destroys it. So much so that even #f you manage to find a weapon to use against them, they'll still kill Jonny stone dead. The only thing to do is rush past them, jumping as high as you can, and hope that they don't hit you.

The game's roughly divided into six levels. There's a scuba-diving section later in the game, and various electric doors, lifts and robots to overcome. Yes, JQ's a biggie all right. Hi-Tec really seem to have sorted out how to cram a lot of data into the C64.

If you haven't seen the TV show, you might not care less about Jonny, his dad Benton or his bloomin' dog, Bandit. It's a pity because there's a big adventure waiting here (if you can just hang on to your one life).

But overall, although JQ looks nice and the characters move beautifully, it's a bit lifeless. Many screens don't have much interactive stuff in them, and you spend a lot of time just rushing from side to side. Still, for three quid it'll keep you out of mischief for ages.

1. Slightly empty screens give the game a sort of hollow feel.
2. Only one blimmin' life!
3. Jonny's realistic inertia and momentum can sometimes be a real pain in the bum.
4. Sound effects are rather poor.

1. Well observed animation makes Jonny a joy to watch.
2. Six big levels, all with unique characteristics.
3. Backgrounds are nicely drawn and add atmosphere.
4. Everything runs smoothly with no irritating delays.
5. The best computer rabbits yet seen.
6. Fans of the show may recognise the characters.