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If you're a fan of "pick up and play" games on the BBC (and in this game, the Acorn Electron), then I've got good news for you. 0xcode's Python is a "new" game that'll remind you of those halcyon days of big box Acornsoft releases and, to my mind, if it had been released in that period, there's no doubt we'd all be reminiscing about how much time we spent playing it along with Boxer and Hopper.

Now, I say "new", because a little research on the Internet has revealed that Python is actually a clone of an arcade machine game called Nibbler (although there are some big differences). And, I suppose, there are quite a number of Snake-style games already available for the Beeb. However, I can honestly say that none of them are as good as this.

The idea of Python is ridiculously simple and it's been done countless times before. You play a python, a snake with a number of segments on its long, scaly body. You are placed in a 18 x 13 maze in which there are a number of foodstuffs (which look suspiciously like diamonds!) that must be eaten to clear the level. Using the familiar ZX*? controls, you must navigate the python to eat them all. The only problem being that, each meal devoured adds a segment to the python's length, and makes navigating the maze more difficult - because your biggest foe in this game is biting your own tail.

There are no patrolling nasties and no other rules. When each level starts, a bouncy little tune starts playing and off you go. It all looks simple enough, but is maddeningly addictive within just a few moments of play. There's a stellar combination at work here - 0xcode has coding skills that are second to none, so you get a super-smooth-scrolling snake effect, music on interrupt and the reptile responds perfectly to your controls. And, if that wasn't good enough, the changes he has made to the original Nibbler actually make it more addictive to play, and less stressful.

For example, in the original Nibbler the snake would not stop at corners of the maze, meaning the player could not pause and quickly scour the maze to deduce what at least might be an appropriate route to take. In Python, you will halt at these intersections until you move in one direction or another. This small change means you can actually use your brain instead of having to play catch up, and makes Python much less frustrating to play than the original.

There are some hidden bonus features of the game too, such as an extra Python that's awarded after level four, and the fact that, if you don't move, time passes more quickly than if you do (the music even speeds up to alert you to this feature too). And, on top of that, the levels don't start off with too-easy-tutorials like many modern games. Even the first level demands a bit of thought to clear, and they just get tougher and tougher.

Anyway, put simply, this is brilliant. I can't find a thing to criticise. Absolute gaming perfection that'll keep you coming back time and time again, even after you've cleared it.