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At first sight Repton 3 looks utterly ghastly. I was almost relieved when the disk started to play up and wouldn't load! Stuff like "a refreshingly new concept... an astounding game reaching new heights... Brilliant" and other totally-over-the-top magazine quotes on the cover are enough to turn anyone's stomach.

Actually though, Repton 3 is pretty engrossing. If you were to say that it was a refreshingly old concept reaching moderate heights it probably wouldn't sound that inspiring, but it could be closer to the truth.

A swift glance at the packaging will tell you this is a variant of Boulderdash. The game consists of 24 two-dimensional scrolling maze screens largely populated by precariously balanced boulders. The other basic ingredients are diamonds, a time bomb, a crown, a key, safes, spirits, creeping fungus and eggs from which monsters hatch.

The idea is to collect all the diamonds, the key and the crown, kill all the monsters and defuse the bomb before it explodes. You see what I mean? It sounds really boring, the odd thing is that it isn't.

For a start, there are a few complications. The temptation is to behave like one of those people who've won a free five minute shopping spree in a supermarket. But you can't just hack around like a complete loony collecting everything of value in sight before your time runs out. If you do, you will come unstuck very quickly.

What happens is that, in your wild lust for diamonds, you disturb a boulder that would best be left well alone. It goes crashing down a crevasse and either blocks your exit, or cuts off access to a cache of diamonds. The only thing to do if this happens is hit the abort key and start again.

There are other pitfalls. If you are incredibly stupid you might consider snatching a diamond from underneath a boulder and waiting for the consequences. It can be done, but only if you're quick. The only easy way to complete a screen is to use your brains - and the map.

Strange, unexpected things happen. On the first screen, if you collect the key from the top right of the maze, a boulder in the bottom-left topples and traps a diamond. The answer is obviously to collect the threatened diamond before you pick up the key. Once you have the key, all the safes turn into diamonds which can then be collected.

On the higher levels some more interesting elements are introduced, such as time capsules which reset the bomb's fuse and transporters which, well, transport you to different parts of the maze.

If you get fed up with the supplied screens or characters, Repton 3 has a sophisticated editor with which you can design your own. Whilst the designer is excellent, I can't help thinking that it's a bit pointless. If you designed a screen you would know it inside out and back to front. So when it came to playing, it wouldn't provide much of a challenge. You would have to get a friend to design one for you, or wait for years until you'd forgotten how it worked. In any case, with 24 screens supplied you might never need to touch the editor.

Don't be put off by the fact that Repton 3 is basically an old game with a few cosmetic alterations. It beats the hell out of a lot of newer stuff dressed up in fancy graphics and sound but with a poor excuse for gameplay.