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Life hasn't been terribly taxing for our two-tailed furry friend since we last saw him. If the intro sequence for Tails Adventures is anything to go by, he's not had much to do except snooze on a tree stump while life on his own little fantasy island passes him by.

But such tranquility was bound to be short-lived. Tails finds negotiations for his next television contract interrupted by the arrival of a bad-ass pyromaniac who decides to burn the island down for no apparent reason other than it would be good for a laugh. Suddenly, all the island's animals are transformed into demonic arsonists and find themselves equipped with flame-throwers and time bombs. Armed with a set of hand grenades and his uncanny helicopter-like flying skills, Tails sets out to douse this skullduggery and collect a load of rings along the way.

OK, that's the threadbare plot. What we have here is a fairly basic Game Gear platformer for Sonic's delightful/irritating sidekick. Given centre-stage is Tails up to the task in paw? Or is he about to be out-foxed?

Tails is at one with nature and his little forest friends until what appears to be an armour-plated duck rolls up and uses his island for a barbecue. Are fox burgers on the menu?

On the second level, Tails is armed with these remote-controlled toy doodlebugs which can scout potentially dangerous areas ahead of him.

Tails takes the spotlight as the Sonic saga continues.

Navigate our furry little chum through multi-scrolling, platforms, beating off hostile wildlife.

Would, I wonder, this have made it far off the drawing board if it hadn't had Sonic's furry chum attached? I suspect not. Still, if you don't own anything like this already (and the chances of that are surely pretty slim) then you won't be disappointed.

Time to come clean. I'm a bit of a sucker for Sonic and his copter-like companion and feel that there's plenty of life left in the dynamic duo. True, I was looking forward to some 32-bit excursions rather than another Game Gear potboiler, but Tails' Adventures will certainly do to be going along with.

It's a little disconcerting to see our previously peace-loving fox bombing everything in sight to forge his path, but his unique hovering ability still stands as quite an endearing feature. Not half bad.

Graphics 75%
P. Tails and his foes are picked out in good detail.
N. The firestorm backgrounds become repetitive.

Music 70%
P. Some nifty brushwork from the band-in-a-box drummer.

Effects 65%
N. Nothing to write home about.

Lastability 83%
P. Keeps you coming back for more.

Overall 80%
Brings nothing new to platforming, but does the job in fine style.