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At last! A game based on a TV series that actually bears some considerable resemblance to it. The Trap Door is a children's TV program concerning the adventures of a plasticine model, Berk, who is constantly trying to satisfy the whims of 'im upstairs, together with his two friends, Boni and Drutt. The Trap Door in question is located in the kitchens and conceals all sorts of horrible nasties just itching to escape, given half a chance.

In the computer game, 'im upstairs wants feeding and it's Berk's job to prepare such delicacies as Boiled Slimies and Eyeball Crush. By carefully selecting his ingredients and manipulating certain objects that can be found lying around, Berk must prepare the dish of the day within a given time limit.

The first item on the menu is always a can of worms but after that they come in a random order A useful tip here is that, when opening the Trap Door to let the worms out, make sure that Drutt is standing on the door. He then gets flipped high into the air before dropping into the hole where you can shut him in. Cruel maybe, but it does stop him eating the worms before you can pick them up.

For later meals, you must make sure that you release the right monster for the dish in question.

The characters are large and beautifully animated, so much so that even if you can't complete the tasks, you can always just sit back and watch. Preparation of the dishes is also very well thought out, striing a nice balance between difficulty and logic.

The only problem is that there are some attribute problems! Yes, I know that this is a C64 review and not a Spectrum one - but the problem is there just the same. What is even worse is that there is no such problem on the Spectrum version! Control of Berk is also less precise than in the original.

The Trap Door is a highly original and entertaining game but this is merely very good as opposed to the excellent Spectrum version and if you have both computers, that is the version to go for.