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Bob Smith's Farmer Jack In Harvest Havoc has been much talked about here, and not without reason.

Early demos have shown great promise of what could be an excellent overall product; one that ZX Spectrum fans should rejoice about. And I'm happy to report the final game has made the grade.

Farmer Jack has been tasked with collecting the ripened crops from what are perilous fields, and where the scarecrow is useless, the armoured bomb-laden tractor is king. You see, within each field isn't the usual wildlife you'd expect, instead there are mechanical fiends that, though they won't degrade the produce, will most certainly make harvesting it very difficult.

Bluntly, they are hell bent on stopping poor Jack from doing his job. They are vulnerable to your arsenal, which features three explosives per life, and falling rocks that will crush them if they clip them, though rocks are not found on every level. Of course, Jack in his nimble tractor is not immune from these hazards, so careful navigation is required, and sometimes a quick wit too.

At first, controlling the tractor might feel a little awkward, but the game is easy enough to give you time to learn how best to use the rigid controls. After a few tries, things feel more natural and I'd reckon the first four levels at least should be fairly straightforward to conquer each time you play. There are also two ways in which to complete each level. You can either collect all of the necessary harvest to progress, or take out all of the malevolent robots with bombs and rocks. The occasional suicidal roamer can inadvertently help you by eating through a fielded area only to find a rock swiftly heading its way. Things will speed up as the number of nasties deplete on each screen, and the rocks will dissipate if they fall far enough, or are bumped by a nasty a few times.

On some levels, a lack of rocks adds a new dynamic to the game, making it near-impossible to take out all foes. Quickly grabbing the fruits and vegetables becomes paramount.

The difficulty curve feels about right to me, as does the important game mechanic once the initial troubles with the controls are overcome. The graphics are nice and bright, though also functional, but special mention should be made to the wonderful AY music. Lee du-Caine has produced a serene, melodic and welcoming title tune and equally great in-game score with little ditties when starting or ending a game. It plays in not too dissimilar fashion to Dig Dug, with a bit of Bomberman thrown in for good measure, and you find yourself drawn back often, whilst humming along to the ear-pleasing music.

Farmer Jack In Harvest Havoc has a good amount of polish to it, and is kind of naïve fun which will please most of you out there in the wide world of retro.

With this and other high quality Cronosoft titles available, it might well be time to buy yourself a Speccy if you haven't already got one working. It really will be well worth it...

Game: Farmer Jack In Harvest Havoc
Price: £2.99 + postage (cassette)
Programmer: Bob Smith
Website: www.cronosoft.co.uk
Format: Sinclair ZX Spectrum