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The instructions supplied with this game bear no resemblance to the correct instructions, which scroll along the bottom of the title screen. I hope Microdeal can clear up this slackness.

Stone Raider 2 is a similar game to Blaby's Boulder Crash. The aim of the game is to collect all of the gems in the 25 different caves. The number of gems on each screen ranges from one to 125, but the number of gems to collect does not reflect the difficulty of the screen. Once all the gems have been collected you have to find your way to the flashing exit.

You control your man using the right joystick. Generally each screen becomes slightly more difficult as you progress through the game, but some screens later on seem easier than earlier ones. The 25th screen is extremely difficult, and I am yet to conquer it!

To pick up a gem all you need to do is walk over it. There are many nasty monsters to stop you in your quest (By walking all over you? - Ed), as well as boulders and slime.

Different monsters behave in different ways, some always preferring to move left, others moving right. When certain monsters are killed by boulders or by gems, they will turn into nine gems. On some screens there are more gems than you actually need to complete the screen. In order to trap the monsters you need to do some clever trail-laying so that the monsters will follow your track to where you can drop boulders on them, which all goes to make the game far more enjoyable.

Falling boulders are another problem. Boulders fall when they are pushed, or when the ground is pulled away under them. The falling boulders will kill you if you don't move fast enough.

Stone Raider 2 is not the usual shoot-'em-up and knock'em down game. It requires skill, and it is usually necessary to think about your next move, as moving the wrong way, moving too soon or too late could either getyou trapped in a rockfall or killed off altogether. There are 25 screens, and considering you only start with three lives the writer has included a cheap facility which enables you to change the number of lives, start screen and speed bonus. This facility is an asset for people who are not too adept at games playing, and also enables each screen to become a game in its own right. Obviously a lot of thought has gone in to each screen to make it more difficult than it first appears. I would recommend this game to any arcade or even adventure fan who enjoys a bit of fun, Stone Raider 2 is the sort of game you can play and play until you have completed a screen just to prove to yourself it can be done.