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No matter how many times we at CF poke cruel fun of Seymour, he keeps bouncing back in new games. The latest effort sees him in Hollywood, making movies. Mr Show Business himself, James Leach, joins him in Beverly Hills...

As the Seymour games keep coming, it's getting harder and harder to think up new and ever more rude ways to insult the gross little lard-blob. I mean, we've called him lard-ball, squidge-features, globule-head and even li'l cheeser. What else is left? Anyway, in this, the latest offering from Reflective Designs of sunny Bradford, you have to guide the little sponge-bag around several incredibly dangerous film sets. He's a stuntman, you see. It's a remarkably fitting occupation for someone who has no bones, and consequently cannot be harmed by even the most violent trauma. What isn't quite as clear is why, instead of making movies in the traditional way, you've got to rush around loads of platforms, avoiding baddies, killing other baddies and collecting things. Apparently the idea is you're being filmed doing this nonsense, because every time you lose a life, you have to do another 'take'. The concept still doesn't quite hold together, though.

Now this is where I can save a bit of time. If you remember seeing the review of DJ Puff's Volcanic Caper a few months back, much of what was said applies to Stuntman Seymour. Volcanic Caper was also written by Reflective Designs, and they've, erm, kept many of the features. Of course, the graphics have been extensively changed, but you can still see a number of resemblances.

The two games are 'close cousins' you might say. This makes reviewing it a bit tricky. I mean, DJ Puff's Volcanic Caper scored a well-deserved 88 per cent, so it was by no means a poor game. Stuntman Seymour is also a good game, but one which doesn't stretch the genre much further, so it can't be awarded the same mark.

Enough of this conundrum, though. If you haven't seen DJ Puff, you'll need to know more about Stuntman Seymour. It's a pretty straightforward platform game, in which you have to leap, bounce, galoomph and generally proceed in an unorderly fashion through each level, killing all the bad guys who patrol the platforms. Each of these baddies requires two shots to take him down, or one bomb. To arm yourself with bombs, you first have to kill a few baddies with your standard weapon (a sort of pistol, although you don't really see it). When a nasty dies, he leaves a collectable. It might be an item of food or occasionally it might be a box of five bombs.

Once you've got a few bombs, you're laughing. They can be thrown at enemies, and, just like when you throw a bomb in real life [Not something I do very often actually - Ed] they travel in a arc. On the upwards curve, the bombs can destroy baddies on a platform above you: as they drop they can destroy baddies next to you and if they fall on to a lower platform, they will blow up anything beneath you. Totally marvellous, and the perfect way of clearing any platform you intend to move on to.

There is one route through each level, but be prepared for plenty of dead-ends and wrong turnings. Although they are sometimes packed with baddies and get rather risky, they usually contain something worth collecting. You might find either a load of bombs or an extra life, It can't be bad, either way.

Of course, once you've hacked your way through each level, you'll meet a big bad guy at the end. How this fits in with the 'making a film' idea isn't particularly obvious, but then neither is much of the other stuff you find in the game. The best thing to do is forget all that weird plot business and just get on with the game.

The end-of-level-baddies are tough; you have to work out by trial and error the best way of tackling them. Some require a bold attack; others simply require you to run away very quickly first, and move in gently. Oh, and keep firing all the time. They take loads of hits, so you've got to lay down some serious firepower from the outset. Using your bombs on these guys isn't such a good idea, though, because when you get on to the next level (if you survive, that is), you'll need a few bombs to help get you started. Wasting them at the end of the last level will get you past the big baddy, but you'll be stuffed when it comes to tackling what's next.

You should by now have some idea of how good the game is. It's certainly a quality release. Seymour moves round smoothly, and the controls are very responsive. Collision detection is good and the graphics are pretty neat. The music, as with all Reflective Designs games, is excellent.

Yes, it's a good game, but I can't help thinking that it's a bit too similar to DJ Puff. Its game-engine is very similar to the earlier game, just with different graphics and the odd extra bit chucked in. The map, of course, is totally different, but it can be solved in the same way, so if you're good at DJ Puff, you'll instantly get the hang of this one.

It's also a bit easy. On the first sitting we managed to get well into level two (out of six), so it shouldn't take any hardened or committed gamer much more than a couple of days to crack. So you won't be playing it until the cows come home, or indeed, until they telephone to let you know they're coming.

1. Very impressive graphics.
2. Smooth scrolling and good collision detection. When you die, it's your fault, not the fault of bad programming.
3. Very hummable soundtrack.
4. Lots of collectables, including the odd extra life.
5. Two sorts of weapons - bombs and bullets - make the gameplay more varied.
6. Totally rubbish plot you can ignore completely.
7. Perfect for the beginner.

1. It's too similar to DJ Puff's Volcanic Caper to earn that hard-to-spell epithet 'original'.
2. A little bit too easy to challenge the hardened platform-addict.