Sappy manual (the passage quoted above) notwithstanding, Parker Brother's Montezuma's Revenge is one of those early platform games that invent the whole new genre-- in this case: treasure-hunting-puzzle-solving platform games. As Panama Joe, you move from room to room gathering keys to open doors, avoiding various enemies and traps, gathering treasures to score points, and gathering equipment to help you along your way, such as torches to light dark rooms and swords to eliminate enemies without losing a life.

What makes Montezuma's Revenge so addictive is hard to describe-- it's the combination of action, puzzle, devious level design, and innumerable additional touches. Black rooms, great sound effects, a large maze, disappearing platforms - it's a mother of a platform game, and a great one at that! Even though Panama Joe (you) looks like a melon with legs. Suffice to say that if you like clever action games, and have never played Montezuma's Revenge, you're missing out on a great lineage of games. Two thumbs up!