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In the year 2029, things aren't as hunky-dory as people might have hoped. Far from the annihilation of the terrorist threat so apparent in the late 20th century, each of the world's fanatical groups have joined together in a bid to wipe out Western democracy and free trading. Oh dear. Sounds like it's time to call for the Action Fighter.

Five missions await completion in Firebird's conversion of Sega's rather obscure arcade game. The player begins by ripping up the road on a sleek, high-powered but vulnerably motorcycle. Every so often a letter of the alphabet wends its way down the screen, beginning with A and ending with F. Once all letters up to D have been collected, the motorbike transforms into an armoured car.

During this little ground-based excursion, you're given the chance to drive into the trailers of passing Sega trucks, gaining extra weapons, rockets (to shoot down any passing enemy helicopters) and limited invincibility in the process. Once the letter F is picked up, it's time to transform once more as you shoot off the end of a pier and become a jet fighter, aiming to destroy airborne attackers in a vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up. At the end of this stage awaits your target, which you must eradicate before the President issues new orders.

The coin-op never really took arcadesters by storm, so why Firebird took on this licence beats me. As a game, it's quite impressive in its own way, relying on playability rather than pretty pictures. The Spy Hunter-style gameplay is certainly addictive for a while and the transformation of game styles adds variety. Unfortunately the whole concept is too simple and, even though play is tough, it doesn't really hold your interest for very long.

A faithful conversion of an obscure, yet enjoyable, coin-op. It's fun for a while, but is by no means an essential purchase. Buy it if you're feeling nostalgic.

Very disappointing when compared to the other attempts. Garish graphics, horrendous sound and wooden animation smother what could have been a fun Spy Hunter clone.

Monochrome graphics are easy on the eye and sound is as much as can be expected. An admirable conversion which is well suited to the Spectrum.