Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction TV series in the world but its conversion to a computer game format has been chequered to say the least. There were a number of adventure games in the 80’s and in 1997 the BBC delivered the woeful Destiny of the Doctors game. A piece of software that boasted state of the art graphics but instead was just a state. Now with a re-booted series gaining massive audiences one would hope the BBC would team up with a software house to bring an action packed piece of Time Lord coding to the world. Well many hopes will be dashed, as the first piece of software to come from the revamped series is an electronic version of the classic game Top Trumps!

OK, now hold onto your gasps of shock for a moment, as this isn’t as bad as it may at first seem. Yes it is basically the old pastime with added sound effects and the latest incarnation of the theme but effort has gone into creating a more exciting experience. The treasured, classic game mechanics are all present and correct but if you want to play old style Top Trumps you have to unlock it as a special bonus. When playing in Adventure Mode you can unlock many more specially hidden features, things that will appeal to fans of the series. All the characters are designed in the same way as the ones from the cartoon series, The Infinite Quest and you can decide which character to be, good or bad. From here you battle through using a variant of the old Top Trumps system trying to beat opponents on a selected ability to enter the game world. It’s easy to play and the youngsters had no trouble picking up the basic idea.

All in all this is far better than it should be but still doesn’t live up to the polish and sheer brilliance of the regenerated TV series.