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The box of Quasimodo proclaims in a pretty gold rosette that the game is a "US Gold/Ocean production". Seems strange this, as Ocean have already produced a successful version of the popular arcade game - Hunchback.

A couple of minutes' play and you soon realise that the new game owes nothing other than its title to the famous Victor Hugo book.

No quest to rescue the angelic Esmerelda here - just a search for three jewels stolen by the forces of evil.

To 'preserve mankind' you have to return the jewels to their rightful places before the soldiers in the castle pin, you to the wall with one of their arrows.

The opening screen is excellent fun. It's one of those panic games where the soldiers are attempting to scale the ramparts. They are rushing up four ladders. Chuck cannon balls down to knock them off. This part of the game was over all too quickly for me. I could have played it for hours.

Luckily there is more fun ahead. Level 2 is a climbing scene. To make your way around the ramparts, you have to start ringing those bells as you swing from rope to rope.

You would think that just about everything that could possible be thought of to jazz up climbing games has now been thought of. Not so - as Quasimodo manages to come up with a really clever play element. When you swing on a rope you have to listen to the ringing of the bells. When it is really loud and fast, you know that you have sufficient momentum to make your leap safely.

As you travel, you have to place the stolen jewels in their cases. The third and final jewel is at the top of a rampart. You have to scale this - dodging the arrows from the soldiers above, and avoiding the bowls of boiling oil being flung from the windows.

A mere three levels of play doesn't seem like much in comparison with some of the huge arcade games now being launched - Brian Bloodaxe and Strangeloop for example have several hundred each. That said, the little that is available in Quasimodo is of an extremely high standard. It's pretty simple but well put together and good fun to play. Bit pricey though at nearly ten quid.