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Why can't these alien types just leave our planet alone, eh? Coming down here, taking over our bodies and changing their shapes - sheesh, the cheek of it! Who's going to put a stop to these mutant scum? A robot or a bloke who looks exactly like Elvis Presley, that's who! Kitted out with some mean weapons, one of these guys is all that stands between peace and world domination by outer-space creeps!

So pick up that artillery and go kick some ass across sixteen stages which make up four missions. Collect energy along the way so that you don't get creamed, and above all remember - you're not on a picnic, you're on an alien massacre, so give 'em hell, boyeee!

Now and again you'll see folk running along the road. Watch them carefully, because usually they aren't at all human! They're shape-changing space freaks who like nothing better than sneaking up on you and dusting your buns.

What's the best way of dealing with these ugly critters? Blast them with your gun, of course!

As well as the main walk along the street toasting enemies part of the game, there's also a couple of sub-levels for you to tackle. Walk past a shop door and you'll walk through it, right into an Op Wolf-style shoot-'em-up where you can shoot aliens and collect energy.

At the end of each stage the action switches to a swiftly-scrolling run, where even more nasties can be despatched.

Alien Storm may not be the greatest arcade game of all time, but it is a pretty good laugh, even if it does have drawbacks in the playability stakes. So how does the Master System version measure up?

Pretty well, actually. It has to be said that this is a very good conversion of the arcade original, but that simply doesn't make it a great game. Graphically it's as good as you could expect and sound is OK, but Alien Storm simply isn't the type of game you want to keep coming back to. It's great for a few goes in the arcades, but when it comes to splashing out notes for the cartridge you have to ask yourself how long you'll be playing that game - and there are plenty more games out there which will keep you playing much longer than this.

Worthwhile if you're a big fan of the arcade game, otherwise I'd suggest a long hard look first.

If you can't find a conversion of Alien Storm on your machine, well, you must be a dribbling mass of sadness because it's out on practically everything!