So a little beardy man with a large papery head has had his girlfriend nicked by a large villain.

And after some trouble tracking down the mean-boots (and following some less-than-enthusiastic words from the subject of his pursuit), old whisker face is kicked into a ravine.

Boo.

Still that gives you, hefty gamer, that chance to whack through a multitude of simplistic platform levels and retrieve her again. What larks, huh?

Well yes. And no...

It's pleasant fun for the first few levels:  old-school, kitsch, nice music, jolly graphics. But crikey beef with salad trimmings does it get old very, very quickly.

Its clever-clogs creators have devised a way of adjusting the difficulty depending on in-game ability, but if we're not at home to Mr Variety, I'm afraid that hook is just not good enough.