Rayman Gold

The platform star with arms noticeable only by their absence is back. For your hard-earned wonga you get the original Royman Gold game, 24 new levels and a mapper that will allow you to inflict your own abysmal level designs on the rest of humanity.

Surprisingly, the game's just as playable as it was when it first appeared, almost two years ago. The new levels offer much of the same, although they tend to lean towards the difficult side and could induce more than a little frustration. The graphics are somewhat dated, but they move fluidly enough and are colourful and clear. Although the map editor is a nice touch, I can't imagine many people making use of it.

Rayman Gold is quite good value if you're a fan of platform games and intend to stick with it. Personally, I prefer Earthworm Jim - he's armed, cheap at half the price and excellent for baiting small birds.

The legless and armless Rayman is, together with old Abe, one of the tew platform crusaders on the PC. And while never reaching the heights of the console paladins Mario and Sonic, this is a generally pleasing foray into the world of wildly coloured 2D worlds and frenetic jumping. Shamelessly aimed at kiddies, Rayman Gold has silly faces, fluffy clouds and cute characters projectile-vomited onto every level. Extremely simple, with graphics that often seem too big to show you enough of the level on-screen at any time, this Gold edition has a world-building tool that you will never, ever use.