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For the last few months those nauseating little console owners have been raving about how good their machines are compared to the likes of the Amiga. You know the sort. They're all the same. Talk about games and all they can say is "Sonic is this fast", or "I can do this on Mario". These sad types who're obviously in need of a holiday in Yugoslavia can brag no more. The age of the hedgehog is over, the age of the ninja ant is here.

"A what?" I hear you ask. Yep, a ninja ant. What do you mean, "That's ridiculous"? If Ninja Turtles can make a killing, the rest of the animal kingdom were bound to try to elbow in on the action. This is one ninja, though, who's taking second place to no-one, especially a smug blue spiky thing and a fat old Italian plumber. Those of you who think that Grelin can only produce great racing games are in for a shock, 'cos Zool is a platform blaster that makes others pale into insignificance.

So what does our friendly neighbourhood ant have to do? Well, Zool has been charged with the task of travelling through seven worlds collecting items and killing bad guys (wow, that's original), just the same old sort of stuff that's all in a day's work for a super hero. In Zool, you have to run, jump and, er, oh yeah, shoot. What do you mean you want to know more? Isn't that enough for you? Alright, alright. Just because I'm a nice guy (and this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I have the rest of these pages to fill), I'll tell you all about it.

Zool, the magnificANT [You're fired! = Ed] is facing a tough challenge. His first trial is te Sweet World where the sweets fight back. Wild liquorice pokers and chocolate spiky Harolds are on the rampage. As if that wasn't enough there are sweets lying all over the place, and being the sweet-toothed ant that you are, you want them all, and you want them now. Indeed, you need them now, because if you don't collect a set number of sweets (or other artifacts, depending on which worlds you're in - on the music level you have to pick up records and musical instruments, on the tool level you have to get nails and screws, and so on and so forth), you won't be allowed through the level's exit, no matter how many meanies you've murdered.

Speed is the name of the game in Zool. The ant is fast moving even in normal mode and, if you want a real laugh, just try him on fast mode. Yeah right, very funny. In fact, the choice of speeds is just one of a pretty impressive set of options you get at the start of the game.

Following Apidya's head in taking a console-like approach to presentation, Zool lets you choose one of three difficulty levels, one of two speed settings, the number of continues you want (up to a maximum of five) and even whether you want inertia on your character or not.

The seven levels are divided into three stages but luckily at the start they are pretty linear, i.e. in a straight line. On later levels, things really get complicated and you have to go all over the place looking for your goals. For an example, check out Music World. It's the prime example of how a level should be. None of this straight-line-run-to-the-right nonsense, it's up, down and all around before you know what's happening. This is the stuff good games are made of.

All the levels look very cutesy. In fact, Zool owes more than a passing nod to both Robocod and (especially) Harlequin, but don't take that to mean it's a rip-off. The superlative graphics, breathtaking speed and awesome playability take this head and shoulders above the rest. The graphics are detailed enough to look interesting and hold your attention but not so detailed that the game speed suffers. The anti-ant adversaries range from the "oh look, what a cute blob" to "Oh my god, what the *#@# is that?" Simple but devastatingly effective, Zool looks as good as any arcade platform game (And that's exactly what it is, with none of Harlequin's more adventure-like elements) you can think of.

Platform games often suffer from being five minute wonders. (How many people have shelled out hard cash for games only to either get bored with them or complete them in five minutes flat? Too many, that's for sure.) I'm more than happy to say that Zool is an exception to this rule. With a total of 21 stages to complete, you've really got your work cut out, and the stages aren't short eighter. Some might feel, in fact, that it's too tough. But with up to five continues and restart points to find in all the levels it will prove a challenge, but not an unassailable one. AS if the length of the stages wasn't bad enough, there's a monster guardian waiting for your undivided attention at the end of each level and these guys haven't spent any time in charm school. To top it all there are some pretty cunning secret rooms lying around. Some you will probably find by pure luck (I know I did) while others need some thought, like playing the right tune on a piano keyboard or jumping on blocks in a certain order (here's one place where you really see that Harlequin influence).

Others are a bit more obvious. Why else would a big golden question mark be floating in mid air? An omen perhaps?

As you would expect from a game as frantic as this, the sound effects aren't exactly laid-back and relaxed. You get four choices of music, but you can, of course, elect to play with no music at all to get the full effect of those lovely sound effects.

It won't win many prizes for originality, so what is it about Zool that makes it so damn good? Well, with graphics guaranteed to raise a smile and gameplay so addictive you'll get withdrawal symptoms when you stop, it can't fail to be a hit. It's not just one of those run and jump games (although there's a lot of that in there, obviously), you have to clamber up walls, slide down slopes and generally do a little bit more than you would expect from a platform game.

It's fast, tough and kicks the ass of certain games featuring certain characters I could mention. Fans of Harlequin will freak over this, and if you aren't a fan of that game then try it anyway, you'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Uppers: Stunning speed for a platform game and oh so cute graphics. Enjoyable and tough to complete (I still haven't). It proves to be frustratingly addictive. A word of warning, don't start playing this in the evening, you'll still be at it in the early hours of the next day.

Downers: May be aimed at a slightly younger player but us oldies won't object to that too much. Some of the levels may prove too tough and put people off, but keep at it, you wimps!

Rightly heralded as a Sonic-beater, Zool is a gamesplaying experience that you shouldn't miss out on. This is the yardstick against which other games of this genre will be measured.