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Poor Oscar, or perhaps Oscar's mother (she is the one more distraught at his M.I.A. status!), has been abducted by Aliens. Not only that, the farmyard favourites have been taken too!

Unbeknownst to his mother, her bespectacled offspring is on the case. Meanwhile, on the alien planet, Oscar is racing against his captors to retrieve his beloved pets. It's a simple run-and-jump affair, where the landscape is constantly scrolling to the right.

You have control over Oscar's momentum and can leap on platforms or over enemies.

You can also slide by pressing down to go under any hovering alien. A progress map at the top of the screen lets you see how close you are to the head honcho alien. It is paramount that you catch up with him as he's about to take one of the animals away for his lunch. To speed things up, you can sacrifice your energy bar by activating a temporary speed boost - this inevitably makes the leaping and ducking require faster reactions. Any energy lost can be replenished by collecting food that is scattered along the way but it can also be depleted during any collision with the baddies or obstacles.

Once you have caught up with the boss alien, who is flying his Jetsons-like spacecraft, you have to time it in a way to dethrone him from it. If you succeed, you can claim this craft as your own and make haste towards your pet-in-waiting. Failure to do so will result in you having to repeat the level.

Nothing is better to see on the CPC than a game which disproves all the common stereotypes. Can't scroll. Too slow. Bad music. Poor presentation.

Well, The Abduction Of Oscar Z spectacularly dumps all these tired slurs in the bin. The quality of what is on offer is very much that and then some.

From the slick presentation of the comic strip during the introduction to the sheer visual splendour of the alien world, you can see that this is a love letter to the Amstrad.

The main stand-out feature in this has to be Oscar's animations: his unfeigned trot, his headfirst dash and his gaiety leap are pieces of animation marvel.

The bright and vivid visuals are otherworldly and almost melt your eyes. The levels are well designed, but they are also the shortcomings of the game. There are only three of them in total, and after a bit of practice - the game is over. Oscar Z deserves more levels, more variety and, quite simply, more farmyard animals to rescue. Until then, I fear some individuals may feel robbed of longevity.

Presentation 90%
Gorgeous PDF manual. Well designed level layout and visuals.

Graphics 85%
Beautifully drawn comic-book style intro. Pleasing colour palette, good quality graphics. Let down only by the odd flicker.

Sound 90%
Well composed, featuring a fast and upbeat in-game soundtrack.

Addictive Qualities 80%
A good challenge that keeps you coming back for just one more try.

Lastability 75%
A lack of variety and levels sadly means Oscar's adventures are over far too quickly.

Overall 84%