Achieving perfect balance within a puzzle game is undoubtedly extremely tricky.  You need a unique combination of a compelling storyline, believable and likeable characters, interesting and varied locations and finally puzzles that are challenging enough to keep you on your toes, without leading you to tear your hair out in frustration.

It's difficult to find any puzzle game that ticks all of these boxes but Return to Mysterious Island 2 builds on the success of the original Return to Mysterious Island game and in many ways improves upon an already great game to produce an excellent sequel.

You play Mina, preparing to leave the island having completed various puzzles in the original Return to Mysterious Island.  I won't go into too much detail in case you haven't played the original game but it's well worth investing in this great value title before you proceed to the sequel.  Unfortunately Mina's departure from the island is thwarted when the rescue helicopter crashes, leaving her to embark on another round of tricky puzzles, dilemmas and challenges in order to survive life on the island.

During the game Mina receives companionship from Jep, a monkey she befriended during her earlier adventure.  In Return to Mysterious Island 2 you can actually play Jep and indeed this will be necessary during the game in order to achieve certain goals or reach areas which are inaccessible to Mina.  Jep is also able to interact with other animals, in particular with other primates and his relationships with them can either help or hinder you along the way.

The style of puzzles can be quite complex.  It will often be necessary to combine multiple objects in order to create something useful and sometimes trial and error is the only way forward.  Parts of the game offer guidance and instructions, such as in the form of a notebook you find detailing how to undertake certain tasks.  At other times you may face a lot of head scratching before you determine what to do next.  One excellent aspect of the game, however, is that there are often multiple ways to achieve certain goals so even if you've overlooked an object or are not sure how to overcome a particular obstacle, there can often be other ways to progress the game.  

Useful tools within the game are the 'shortcuts' option, allowing you to easily jump from one location to another.  The scoring system gives you a score based on your inventiveness and ingenuity during the game.  Finally the 'puttering about' tab allows you to look at tried and tested item combinations.

The music is excellent and adds to the atmospheric tone set by some wonderful graphics.  This is much sharper than the previous game and the level of detail is higher.  The game is played across several locations, some of which can be recognised from the original but many of which are brand new.

This is an excellent adventure game, which provides several hours of gameplay.  Though the puzzles can be extremely hard, it felt very rewarding to complete.  Though Mina could be a little frustrating at times, there's no denying that she and Jep proved to be a formidable team and good characters to play.  This is an all round great choice.

**Review by Donna Haw**