Rainbow Islands is so cute, that if you can stand it for more than a few levels you just have to be a girl - either that or the school spanner. Bub and Bob, that odiously cute and incredibly spukesome duo from the greatest ever platform get-out-yer-fairy-liquid-and-blow-'em-up, Bubble Bobble (which was actually pretty good despite the cutesy-ness) bound around a multitude of platforms with only their particularly silly rainbow guns to protect them. They splat insects, kill crows and turn spiders into collectable precious jewels.

Veronica was hooked - it took an age to prise the joystick from her vice-like grasp, but at least it kept her from bugging me for a while. Not that I was desperate to play anything so childish, of course (although, it does have its moments). [Yes, moments that last a few hours if the amount of time you spent playing it was anything to go by - Ed] Okay, I admit it it's a wrist-wrenchingly good game, just don't let your mates know you've been playing it.