With Christmas firmly in mind, two compilation tapes for the C64 from Alligata, each containing four titles. One is on general release whilst the other is available only from WHSmiths. The first tape contains Rocket Roger, 3-D Waterski, Hypercircuit and Guardian. The games on the Smith's tape are Z, Eagle Empire, Tales Of The Cat and Knockout.

Rocket Roger is an early arcade adventure in which you are searching for 99 crystals which will give you enough fuel to get back to earth. Some of the crystals are in empty caverns with other being protected by an assortment of nasties. There are teleports to whisk you out of trouble and the rooms vary between shoot-'em-up screens and platorm game settings.

Waterski 3D is a rather simplistic simulation with you and your boat hurtling around a twisty course trying to avoid rocks and mines in ffear of becoming shark fodder. There are bonus points to be earned if you manage to leap from the ramps.

Whizzing round the wires of a circuit board blasting anthing that seems remotely hostile is the aim of the game in Hypercircuit. You are actually trying to defend a number of bases and one unusual effect is the way that you can fire round corners! A fast and furious shoot-'em-up.

Probably the pick of the four games on the tape is Guardian. It is a Defender clone, pure and simple, but the action is fast and furious and you will need lightning reflexes if you are going to save your humanoids from the baiters, swarmers, pods, landers and mutants.

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Action Pack 2 starts off with another shoot-'em-up and also the shortest game title yet - Z. Shooting the enemy causes energy pods to be released and you must catch these in order to break through the force barrier in order to access the transporter to the next zone.

Eagle Empire is a version of the old arcade game Phoenix as you blast your way through waves of hostile birds, eggs and war eagles until the final battle with the mothership. All this at the same time as dodging their bombs or using your shield to protect you.

Tales Of The Cat is a sort of Frogger variant as you try to manoeuvre your moggy (complete with nine lives) past cars, falling bottles and plant pots, break dancers and a huge black dog as you go in search of such delights as fish bones, mice and bird seed. Not a very good game.

The final title in this collection is Knockout, a boxing simulation that looks quite attractive initially but plays dreadfully. The only controls that you have are move left and right, left hoo, right hook and guard.

Of the two tapes, Action Pack is a lot better value for money than its WHSmith counterpart, with only one poor game (Waterski) as opposed to three poor titles on the other (all except Z). Make sure that you get the right one.

Graphics 80%
Sound 60%
Addictiveness 100%
Friendliness 80%
Overall 80%

Graphics 60%
Sound 40%
Addictiveness 40%
Friendliness 80%
Overall 55%