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This excellent title is a must for *all* arcade enthusiasts. At £5.95 it is well worth a couple of weeks' pocket money.

While loading, we are met by a continuous rotation of the words MANIC and MINER in large letters which alternate in colour. Once loaded, we can hear a fascinating tune played on a piano keyboard with the keys visibly being played.

On the inlay we are told that Miner Willy (that's us) has found a long lost mine and has to bring out all the treasure he discovers there. We have a choice of keys, but I found that Q to go left, W to go right and Space to jump (with A to pause) are the best keys for the job. We also have a choice of having the tune (Hall Of The Mountain king) on or off while we play.

So, on to the game itself. On pressing ENTER, the first cave (called the Central Cavern) flashes up instantly. We are in the bottom left-hand corner and have to get all the keys that are placed in awkward positions around the rest of the screen. This is not as easy as it seems, as there are nasties like poisonous pansy bushes all over the place which must be jumped over or otherwise avoided at all costs. A mad mining robot must also be missed as an added peril. Conveyor belts also must be negotiated as well as disintegrating floors. If these are not enough complications for you, then I'll add that you have a limited air supply, which only takes about 2.5 minutes to run out.

If you safely get all the keys and manage to return to the lowest level, you can go through the flashing door into the next sheet. You get a bonus depending on how much air you have left, with the keys at 100 points each. If you get killed for the third time, a boot comes down on the end of a very long leg and steps on you. What a good idea!

If you make it through the first cavern, you have got another nineteen more caves to go through before you reach home, each one progressively harder. Cave 2, the 'cold room' has penguins on ice skates after you, and rather than keys you have to get snowshoes. The third cave, the 'Menagerie' obviously got its name from the three emus which eaderly patrol the different levels. Deadly spiders appear for the first time on this sheet, making it even harder.

My favourite cave (also the furthest I can get!) is 'Eugene's Lair', cavern number 5. In this, we must obtain five bricks to get to the next cave. Eugene is a small round man with stubby legs and glasses and is clearly named after a certain well known programmer. He does his best to stop you getting all the bricks, as do the ferocous toilets, which are complete with flapping seats.

This game is highly addictive as there is always the motivation to try and reach the next cavern. Each cave holds its own secret, which must be learned before any progress can be made.

Well done to Matthew Smith for writing an ingenious program with such super graphics, and thanks to Bug-Byte for issuing it. All in all, an excellent game for the 48K Spectrum.