He was resting when I entered the large, windowless room. Oil canisters littered the grimy floor and spiders hung from cobwebs in the farthest corners. As I took out my notebook, I sensed that I was in the presence of a hero.

Arnie was a special character - unique. Bright red with a smiling face, he was in fact a cartoon car. Just in case you are not an expert on cars who are Toons, they are intelligent, independent, and incredibly smooth.

I questioned Arnie about the task ahead and he explained in his soft, gentle voice: "I've got to defeat Captain Grim. He has gone too far this time. I am gonna get him! I am gonna demote him! I am gonna ki...".

I could tell he was keen to get at Grim! Maybe. Let me explain more clearly.

Grim has spread his evil throughout the land and captured a number of Arnie's friends. Arnie has to drive over the ground Grim has descrated. By jumping from platform to platform, the levels can eventually be cleared of Grim's evil. However, a number of Loony Toons are intent on preventing you from completing your mission. They roam the many platforms, trying to kill you.

Fortunately, you can collect various means of defence by running into Icons. These include oil slicks, smoke screens, a gun, mortar bombs, smart bombs and more.

By collecting a specific series of icons you will be rewarded in other ways. B.O.N.U.S. significantly improves your score, while E.X.T.R.A. gives you more lives.

After travelling specific distances you will have a chance to rescue one of your friends before continuing on to the next scenario. Here the Loony Toons become more frequent, and their level of deviousness increases frighteningly.

With 48 levels and eight different areas to drive through, there are difficult times ahead. Only a Toon of immense skill and stamina will survive to cleanse the world of evil. Only Arnie can defeat Captain Grim!

Cartoons are wonderful things - they make us laugh and keep a lot of people happy. So what happens when someone makes them bad and unhappy? Cartoon heroes like Arnie the car have to go and make them good again, that is what.

This cute little platform game is based well in the cartoon mould, with some colourful sprites and backgrounds to portray the action. You take control of the cutely drawn little hero in his quest to save Cartoon World and defeat the evil Captain Grim. In order to turn the land into an evil place, Grim has sabotaged various pieces of cartoon scenery, from the building sites to the land of toys. You must visit all the locations driving over all the platforms to turn the place back to normal.

Stunt Car Jumper
Arnie's good intentions hit a snag however, because his brakes do not work, which means that once he starts moving, he cannot stop! He can jump though, enabling him to pass from platform to platform, happily returning them to their natural state.

If Arnie restores all the platforms in a sector, then he can break through and rescue one of his cartoon friends - accompanied by a rather crap gag!

his would be easy to achieve, except that Grim is still watching the little hero, and throws in the odd baddy to try and stomp on him. Also, if Arnie takes too long over a particular location, then the Turbo Demon will appear and chase him to his death. Unfortunately, the friendly helicopter cannot go and pick him up until he has completed his task in the area. Oh dear!

Things are made easier by the occasional bonus item that Arnie can pick up to help him on his way. These include weapons that can be used by the hands that drive Arnie around, ranging from front-firing guns and smart bombs to magical tokens which can freeze all the enemies on the level for a while. Sometimes letters will float down the screen which, when they are all collected, give Arnie an extra life or score bonus.

To The Boing-Mobile!
Although it sound simple, Car-Vup's gameplay is rather good fun. Despite its simplicity, the game is quite tough and it will be quite a while before Arnie can beat all the levels to finally confront the evil Captain Grim. It is great fun ploughing through the levels though, since each sector is portrayed by incredibly individual graphics, ranging from the lovely pastoral garden scenes to the colourful Rubik's Cube and Sticle-Brick backgrounds of Toy Land.

Cartoons are great, and Car-Vup captures the feel of them superbly. Forget the paint and celluloid for five minutes and get into 'Toon fun with Arnie and his cute Friends!

No doubt inspired by the 'cutesy' games that are currently appearing on the NES and Sega consoles, Car-Vup is a forty-eight stage platform romp with a little red car as its star. Control the little Herbie lookalike, called Arnie, as he attempts to rid his world of the marauding baddies that have overrun it. Behind this catastrophe is the wicked Captain Grim who, as his name suggests, is against everything nice and, on seeing Arnie's happy-go-lucky world, decided that it was ripe for spoiling. Before Arnie could act, Grim's minions were already running amok, and Car-Vup places you in the tyres of the little automobile as he prepares to clear each stage by brightening it up again.

Lightening the tone of each stage is sufficient to save it from a fate worse than death, and this is achieved by painting or fixing every platform within the level by trundling over it. An easy enough task, hampered only by the aforementioned nasties who run and leap around the screen and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

Arnie is controlled using the joystick and Core have made a concerted effort to make the controls as simple as possible. The system works well, with the fire-button and the up and down directional controls sending Arnie into a jump (with the directional control determining the height of the jump), whilst the left and right controls only come into play when you need to turn the little car around.

Each horizontally-scrolling level wraps around and covers roughly four screens - and as you run from left to right, the platforms are scattered at different heights above you. In addition, as you colour them in one by one, various bonuses drop from the heavens and should be collected for extra points and features. For instance, collecting the balls that sport the letters that make up the word EXTRA will gain you an extra life, whilst collecting B, O, N, U, and S will add to your score and ignite a flurry of fireworks to celebrate! For the most part, though, the bonuses are in the shape of point-giving fruit and goodies which add to your score considerably. Similarly, on odd occasions, a weapon icon will appear and, if collected, endows Arnie with a new offensive power. These take the form of jets of steam, bullets and bombs which will kill any lurking nasties, or he can improve his performance with the addition of extra turning speed which allows our little red hero to turn on a six-pence.

And that is all there is to it really, but do not dismiss it as a simplistic platform romp. Behind Car-Vup's cute and simplistic front lurks a surprisingly addictive little game, and it is obvious that a lot of time has been spent ensuring that the controls and gameplay are as simple and uncluttered as possible, something which is perfectly apparent as the game is a doddle to pick up, but difficult to master - the key to an addictive game. Having said that, though, the game is no slouch in the graphics department, as each of the eight levels are nice and varied, with each stage boasting nasties that tie in with its overall theme and style - for instance, in Musicland, you can expect to be attacked by drums and trumpets.

In terms of gameplay, Car-Vup borrows ideas from games as diverse as Rainbow Islands to Wheelie (remember that?), and the many bonuses and nice touches that have been included ensure that the game won't get too repetitive and dull. All in all, whilst not breaking down any sound or graphical barriers, Car-Vup offers addictive - if a little repetitive - platform action, and proves itself to be a neat and addictive variant on the tried and trusted platform theme. Worth a look.