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Don't buy Arnie a book for his birthday, he's already got one. What he doesn't have, it seems, is his right mind. In Total Recall, following the plot of the film, you play a confused, angry and to say the least, well-built character called Quaid. A humble building-site worked, Quaid is inexplicably haunted by lurid visions of the planet Mars. A visit to "Rekall" - a memory implant centre - goes horribly wrong and Quaid discovers he's living a lie.

The only clues to his real identity are the recurring theme of Mars and the unexplained yet frantic attempts of Richter, the Chief of Police and his men to stop Quaid's progress. You must avoid or terminally perforate the enemy if Quaid's mission is to be completely successful.

Total Recall offers you the chance to flex your pectorals as your bulging alter ego explores the six levels of bicep-pumping action. There are two basic elements in the gameplay: four levels of platform adventure and two levels of car chases.

In Level One, you must navigate your way around a complex platform maze. In order to get to Level Two you must locate and collect a passport, briefcase, ticket to Mars, disguise kit and a nasal sink-plunger. Other objects - guns, ammo and energy pills - are left lying about and help your progress.

In Level Two you find yourself in a Ford Transit van, weaving your way through some particularly heavy cross-town traffic. Level Three is back to the platforms for a race from a warehouse to the spaceport. Now safely on Mars, Level Four sees you having to fight through the sensuous Venusville in which you discover the woman of Quaid's dreams - Melina. Then it's back to the car sequence for Level Five in which Quaid, Melina and Benny le Taxi must burn rubber to get to the rebel hideout in time. On Level Six you're back on foot and ready for the final showdown...

The animation is smooth and detailed with a lot of clever touches. The crouch, run, hit and fire routines in the platform levels have been done better before, but they are competently handled and have interesting additions to the basic format. The pace of the action stays quick, but sound effects are run-of-the-mill, not adding to the overall atmosphere. Unfortunately, the car sequences are dreadful, another case of simply tacking on "a bit more" just for the sake of padding it out.

The "bullets fired" to "braincells required" ratio isn't quite as mind-boggling as in some games, but there's enough indiscriminate carnage to prove that Quaid is in no sense a '90s Man. Still, don't let the hackneyed gameplay put you off - the graphics really pull this game to a position above the common herd. Total Recall is a good beat-'em-up platform cum adventure game. It's nothing new, but if you're a fan of the film, give it a try.