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Last year saw Sega's first departure from its usual high-speed hydraulic stomach churners and into the rapidly-growing 'cutesy' genre - Dynamite Dux was Sega's answer to Taito's Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands, and although it didn't achieve a great deal of recognition, it proved popular with those who prefer soap suds and cream cakes to 30mm chain guns and Sabot rockets.

Activision's conversion has been carried out by Core Design, the team behind Rick Dangerous, and casts you (and an optional friend) as Bin and Pin, two lovable Ducks whose temper snaps when their female owner Suzy is whisked away in a magic bubble by the evil wizard Achacha.

Intent on rescuing their mistress, Bin and Pin travel to Achacha's home planet - a surreal world comprising six horizontally scrolling levels and inhabited by Achacha's wild 'n whacky minions.

Cute was the name of the game in Sega's coin-op, and Core has certainly managed to capture that aspect in its conversions with its near-identical sprites and attention to detail in the presentation - the cutesy opening sequence, inter-level time warp and 'Best Friends' high score table are all featured, as are the coin-op's sickly-sweet tunes.

But it seems strange that, even with the Amiga's monster sound capabilities, it's not possible to run both music and effects at the same time - one or the other must be selected before play. The gameplay however isn't up to scratch, with the speed of play being the biggest problem - Bin and Pin walk and turn at a snail's pace, causing problems when dealing with the enemies.

The fact that you're forced to drop your weaponry every time you take a hit doesn't make things any easier, and neither does having to press the space bar to jump.

That said, conversion-wise it's very similar to its coin-op dad (speed aside) - but it's certainly not as impressive as we've come to expect from the team that gave us Rick Dangerous.