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Technology is temperamental, work is worrisome and machinery is absolutely mad, as Lucasfilm prove with their latest release. If there isn't some pedalling to be done, there's that infestation of lemmings to be vacuum cleaned. Then there are are those conveyor belts to attend to. Is there no rest for the wicked? [No. Work faster - Ed]

Ever wondered how those toy Ewoks and ETs are made? Well, this is your chance to find out (sort of) in Lucasfiim's latest game, Night Shift. The action takes place in a factory belonging to a company called Industrial Might and Logic. It's a spoof on Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects complex belonging to good old George Lucas.

Fred or Fiona Fixit (you decide!) must keep the factory's machine - nicknamed The Beast - running while it churns out dozens of effigies of famous film and game characters, including Indiana Jones, ET, Zak McKracken and a liberal sprinkling of Stormtroopers. You're given a quota to fill by Frank the foreman at the start of the shift, and if you don't make it before your time limit runs out, you're fired. Figures over and above your quota translate into a hefty bonus in your pay packet, but sub-standard figures are rejected and dosh is deducted from your paypacket

The Beast fills four vertical screens and scrolls up and down. It scrolls up and down as Fred (or Fiona) jumps over pumps, pistons and platforms. It scrolls up and down as they carry out maintenance on different parts of the device. It scrolls up and down in its spare time, it scrolls up and down so much. This ingenious machine is designed with burners, conveyor belts and levers a-plenty all of which share the ability to get in your way.

A bicycle-powered generator demands frequent pedalling to keep the production line functioning. Pedalling in this case is carried out Track And Field-style by waggling the joystick at breaking rate.

To start with, you have to turn out five stormtroopers by plugging the machine in, fixing a leaky pipe, setting the temperature of the melting pot and then pedalling like crazy to keep the electricity supply flowing. But things soon start going haywire. Conveyor belts move the wrong way and must be switched back in the right direction, paint supplies must be kept the right colour and the temperature of the melting pot must be constantly adjusted to make sure the moulding fluid keeps flowing...

Naturally, the factory is infested with lemmings (Cliff and Jodee) who dangle annoyingly around your feet. Either vacuum them up or feed them to a venus flytrap. You also get hassled by Larry Lawyer, a villain who scampers on and tries to beat you up.

There are thirty levels ranging from easy to nigh on impossible. Each time you complete one you're given a code so you don't have to do the whole lot again. When you reach the final level, all the panels on the machinery have been removed, revealing the entire internal workings of the beast.

Night Shift has got good looks. The layout is spot on. Fred and Fiona come on cute and find faster routes through the moving parts as the quota goes up and up. And all this to every whistle and bell and meaty grinding noise you breathe into The Beast.

The gameplay ticks over on level one. Then, without prior warning, it goes insane. And there are times when you simply cannot see what you're supposed to kick, press, pull, prod or turn.

Aside from that, Night Shift is ideal for those with the patience of a saint, the stamina of an elephant and as much need for sleep as Rip Van Winkle and it's got the potential to induce mass insomnia in spite of its faults.

1. Gets too difficult too quickly.
2. Loses clarity when a lot happens.

1. Thirty levels will take days, nay months, nay probably years of frantic play to finish.
2. Password system prevents the game being impossible to complete.
3. The sprites and moving machinery parts are well animated with masses of humorous touches.
4. Sound is just right, and gives a sense of being an outlandish factory floor!
5. The intricacy of each part of the machine makes it both a nightmare and joy for the puzzle hungry out there.