Despite appearances, this isn't your usual movie-to-game licence. Technically, it's not even a movie tie-in, it's a theme park ride tie-in. Haunted Mansion - as with the Eddie Murphy movie - is based on a ride at Disney World in Florida and manages to be different to the film which received ghoulish reviews. Murphy is not in the game, which might be a blessing, because the result is an entertaining, simple and nearly-good game.

As Zeke Halloway, unemployed bachelor of New Orleans, you must visit every room in the titular mansion, turning on all the lights and banishing the evil that terrorises the gentler ghosts who haunt the house. Straightforward enough but between you and the light switch in any room stand ghouls, monsters and other evil spirits. Zeke possesses the Beacon of Souls, an upgradable magic lantern that fires light to despatch the hordes of darkness. Combat is a lock-on-and-blast affair with each new attacker having an exploitable weakness. But your enemies are fast to retaliate, requiring skilled dodging and jumping to survive.

Combat is only half the story as each room contains a puzzle. Each is as inventive and thoughtful as the last, leaving you just as likely to find yourself shrunk and dumped on a pool table as using a spider's-web attack to reach your goal. These puzzles are key to what enjoyment there is and, thankfully, no challenge is ever unreasonable or frustrating. Solutions often require careful observation of the room you're in and the effect you make on it. Environment effects are just as impressive as Zeke jumping into paintings, adrift in space or swapping around the walls of a room. Once the room is lit, objects release souls which Zeke collects in his lantern to unlock new levels.

Haunted Mansion is well constructed and a rewarding experience to play. Sadly, it is also short. There are roughly 40 locations to explore but each of these is, after all, a single room or corridor. Once the secret has been discovered there is little reason to revisit, except to collect any lost souls you may have missed. And despite the three difficulty settings, replaying the game again seems pointless as the puzzles remain the same. Ultimately, Haunted Mansion is too brief, shallow and inconsequential to bother with but it does have a certain puzzling charm that those who'd rather be at the easy end of the gaming spectrum will appreciate.

Graphics 70%
Solid, Gothic atmosphere but some flaws.

Sound 60%
Camp but suitable walls and shrieks

Gameplay 80%
Challenging puzzles and fast-paced combat.

Lifespan 60%
Burns its clever candle at both ends!

Overall 60%
Very short, but brilliant and absorbing while it lasts. The low price makes this a respectable slice of platform goodness.