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It's been a while since we saw anything new from Thalamus, not including the pretty disappointing Amiga Hawkeye, but to all intents and purposes, Snare is really quite good.

The plot is pretty similar to that of The Running Man, the Stephen King/Peter Bachman book turned Arnie movie. An eccentric millionaire built The Snare as his final resting place. On the day of his death, he travelled to the far side of The Snare with the most valuable object he possessed, activating all the traps as he went. And there he lies now, in a tomb of danger, just waiting to be robbed.

Many men have tried to get to the old man, all of them have failed. Such a public spectacle has the Snare become that it is now the play area in a huge TV gameshow, where fit young men and women can try their hands at getting the treasure that lies at the bottom of the twenty levels. If you win, you become filthy stinking rich. Fail and the punishment is death.

Each level is a long vertical strip that you race around on in four directions. Actually you only move in one direction, but the scenery mimicks your movement by quickly flicking through ninety degrees. So basically, you always scroll upward toward whichever compass heading you face... As you can probably imagine, this is very disorientating, and every so often, you have to stop for a second and work out just where you are and what you're doing!

To complete a level, you have to find a transporter tile, normally hidden at the far side of the level. Strategically placed are ones that change your direction, block you, accelerate you toward the nearest wall, and holes that drop you to your death. You must also contend with enemy craft, which you have to find and destroy by use of your radar and your laser cannon. Your ship can also jump short distances to get you over certain holes and you can build walls to redirect the guards.

As you go through the game, the puzzles get harder and the guards get smarter, and so the game provides enough challenge to keep even the most adept arcadesters going.

A fun, original and challenging game that'll keep you busy for a good few hours.