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Enter the world of Puffy and Puffina, possibly two of the cutest things you've ever seen in your life. Sadly their best friends have been captured and it is down to you to rescue them from the castle of the evil Baron Loftus.

To rescue them, you have to make your way through a staggeringly large number of Gauntlet-like levels, each populated by all manner of foul beasts such as fire-breathing dragons, crocodiles, Pac-man ghosts and evil Puffies.

So what exactly is a Puffy? A Puffy is a small potato-like creature with a big heart and a smile to match. But don't be fooled by its deceptively sweet appearance. Puffy is a ruthless killing machine. It's so vile that before it destroys its adversary, it spits on them, just to rub it in, before chewing it to death.

As Puffy races around the eight-way scrolling levels, destroying everything in his path, he finds lots of other things to help or hinder him besides the enemy creatures. There are keys, useful for opening doors and locked chests, which can contain even more keys, food to boost Puffy's flagging energy level, or bonus weapons, such as bombs, or the ability to breathe a limited amount of fire.

The graphics are brilliant. Although small, everything is well designed and full of character. Who knows how many frames of animation have gone into Puffy himself, as he pulls more and more faces in reaction to different situations. See him leap back, eyes wide open with surprise as a wall closes up in front of him, see the look of fear on his face as ghosts pass by. The scrolling is perfectly smooth in all directions and it's this kind of obvious care and attention to detail that makes a game stand out.

The sound is just as amazing, and contains some of the cutest samples ever heard. Hear Puffy say 'Oooo' as the ghosts come near, hear him squeak. 'You gonna burn' as he breathes fire. If you play in two player mode and get into a fight, the loser mutters 'You win' just before it dies. Alternately sweet and sickening. This is what we want.

A brilliant variation on a worn theme. In time it will get boring, but it's still worth buying for the cute factor alone.