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The latest in the saga of Monty Mole is an arcade adventure in which you guide Sam Stoat to rescue Monty from the depths of Scudmore Prison. Finding Monty is one problem, rescuing him is another!

You need guns from the armoury, and keys which must be returned to the governor's office until you find the one to fit Monty's cell. That sounds straightforward until you see the massed ranks of skeletons, skulls, warders, ghosts and, seemingly, millions of other sundry chasers. Though you do have the guns with which to defend yourself, they only have five shots, and even the bottles of invisibility potion wear off very quickly.

The graphics are executed in clever, multi-coloured 3D; as a result, you can go round and behind things like pillars etc. The old Spectrum attribute problem does get in the way every now and then, but, on balance, the effect is good. Levels, ladders, rooms, ropes, courtyards, cells, even the gym are illustrated. One of the most fun things to do is to disappear down a hole, to reappear somewhere else. It's very impressive.

And it's hard... very hard. Even using a special version with infinite lives, I still haven't found Monty. The cell keys are hard to come by, though joystick control for Kempston and Interface 2 makes steering Sam easy enough.

Very well presented and executed, good value for money, and certainly plenty to keep you occupied for quite some time. There's even a sweat shirt offer too!

D.M.