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Black rats aren't generally regarded as cute creatures, but The Toyettes, a French cartoon strip by L.M. Carpentier, depicts them as cuddly little fluffballs. If you've never heard of them before, it's a little underwhelming to find they're now the subject of a computer game, but this makes no difference to the enjoyment of the game itself.

The Toyottes live in an underground world, too scared to venture to the surface for fear of being munched by monsters. The ruler of the rats is a tyrant whose imbecilic offspring, Barnaby, has disappeared while playing ball. The King sends Cyprian, a rat minion, to bring him home.

As Cyprian, you are sent to the strange world of the surface. You materialise on-screen in a crazy, Heath Robinson-type nightmare, with pipes, ladders and pulleys everywhere. Your first task is to locate Barnaby's ball and this search involves climbing ropes and crossing chasms on planks.

Your mission is made more difficult by the vast number of monsters who attack at every opportunity, creating wonderful cartoon fight-swirls. Fight them by repeatedly hitting the Fire button, and eventually they disappear (for a while), leaving you free to replenish your strength by eating the cheese lying on the floor.

Your best defence however, is to be nimble and avoid conflict wherever possible. To this end, the quickest way of passing a hungry gorilla or a barmy bat is to take the tube - literally.

A network of pipes, with openings poking through floors and hanging from ceilings, covers the entire area. Clamber onto a box and, like a rat up a drainpipe, you're gone. Only a bulge in the pipe shows your presence as you whizz through rooms safely passing the nasties. It's wise to use the radar (at the top right of the screen) at this point, because you're not alone in the tunnels. The Pipe Cleaners, who also zip about the network, eat rats! Turning tail and fleeing is your only chance.

As if this wasn't enough to contend with, the presence of Guardians who block access to areas of the maze make life even harder. To get past them, you must give them the objects they demand from you which are scattered around the platform.

Occasionally you can sidestep them by entering a nearby doorway which zaps you to another location, but this can make things even more confusing till you work out which ones take you where.

The Toyottes has pleasing visuals; front-end animation is interesting and so is the high-score table which features a slime-dribbling beastie on a pipe. Within the game, some of the characters are on the small side and the scrolling is not of the highest calibre, but the giant guardians are amusing, and feature some of the dumbest, cutest-looking horrors seen in a long time.

The opening title music is another of those infuriating tunes which you happily listen to for ten minutes before realising you're seconds away from madness. Sound effects are much better, featuring sampled squeaks, growls and groans which fit the cartoon style perfectly.

As a cute platform game, The Toyottes is a fair effort. The pipe gives the game its addictive quality and proves that licences alone don't make old-style games good.

It's possible to bumble through the first stage, taking in the scenery without knowing where you are, but to complete the entire game requires a lot more concentration and commitment. The frustration caused by repetitive thrashings might make that a tall order. It's a good giggle and worth buying if you've cash to spare.