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Let's hope that brown is your favourite colour, because you're going to be seeing a lot of it - particularly in the trouser region. The most terrifying monsters from outer space have landed, and they're busy eating humans, vomiting smelly entrails into people's underwear, and generally causing a bit of a hard time. Towns all over the USA have suddenly become infested by some of the most gruesome creatures ever and only a hero armed to the teeth with destruction-bringing artillery can give them a right royal kick up the backside and save the world!

There are three distinct sections to Alien Storm (see the boxes below), but in all of them the aim is simple. Standing between you and the end of the level are a whole host of creepy ghoulies and your aim is to kick alien butt (although the use of high-power lasers is probably going to be a tad more effective).

There are eight levels of alien-busting antics, with the final showdown taking place in the aliens' UFO - in flight! Annihilate the mean alien boss and it's game over. If they blow you up, it's game over too, but the aliens will roam the Earth forever - unchecked!

Every three levels or so, the good guys take a quick run through an enemy sector, using their long-range lasers to blast some aliens. Later sections see cunning booby traps being left by those devious scum - use the heroes' jumping abilities here!

At the end of the game, players are given a rating according to their performance during the game. If you're a pretty good player, Fighter is a common enough rating.

But if you completely spaz it up, expect to be classed as peasant-like Serf - the ultimate embarrassment!

Every level has a special building that contains humans trapped by the alien menace. Here, the action changes into a 3D Op Wolf-style affair, with the good guys blasting the aliens and completely destroying the scenery!

Gordon: Gordon is a moron... or is he? Armed to the teeth with a powerful laser and close-range plasma cannon, he's one mean dude. He's also a bit of an athlete, capable of massive somersaults and shoulder charges.

Special Weapon: Depending on energy reserves, Gordon's capable of summoning a massive battle cruiser, which strafes the landscape.

Kalra: Kalra's an athletic girlie par excellence, who likes carrying a massive flamethrower around for torching any nasty xenomorphs she might stumble across. Kalra's also good at gymnastics, which comes in handy when it comes to pulling off somersaults and the like.

Special Weapon: Kalra enjoys summoning ginormous Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) to do away with those grotesque aliens.

Scooter: He might share his name with one of the Muppets, but beware! Scooter's actually a Terminator-like battle droid armed from head to toe with lasers and blasters. Scooter's also capable of flying much the same distance as Gordon and Kalra can somersault.

Special Weapon: One press of the A button and Scooter suddenly explodes, taking out any aliens nearby. There's always a reserve droid waiting in the wings to carry on the alien-annihilating task.

Believe it or not, the official version of Alien Storm is quite different to the import Japanese version. For starters, the official version is even easier (!!) than the imported version in that most continues are supplied (seven as opposed to three!). Also the Duel option only allows single-player combat.

Alien Storm features stunning graphics that mimic their horrifically grisly arcade counterparts perfectly. Some of the sprite animation is really fantastic, and there are plenty of gruesome touches - one alien has green arms inside its mouth which reach out and grab you; another farts noxious gases, one irritating type spits goo from mouths in its chest, there's a mutoid kangaroo which sprouts a disgusting proboscis from its pouch, a giant slitherer which opens its mouth enormously wide and leaps across at you, and there's also a horrible... er... thing which grabs you, turns you upside down and drops you on your head!

The music is also fantastic, with plenty of rockin' tunes and brill sound effects. "So the game is great, then" I hear you cry. Well, I'm afraid it's not. Nowhere near.

What Alien Storm completely lacks is something totally vital. It's called challenge. I finished it on my very first go - without using any of the six credits I gave myself!

Alien Storm is a fantastic blast that's virtually arcade perfect! The graphics are spot-on with a whole host of brilliant aliens and decent backdrops. The action is mega-fast, very smooth and highly addictive. You'll be at this until you've completed it... which, erm, isn't very long, I'm afraid.

Yes, it's sad but oh-so-true; completing Alien Storm is about as difficult putting on a pair of trousers! Virtually everyone in the office completed the game within half an hour of its arrival - it's that simple! It's a real shame that the extra difficulty levels don't really add that much of a challenge to the game.

For £35.00, you should get a lot more value for money, and in this respect Alien Storm just doesn't deliver. Fans of the coin-op will doubtlessly enjoy this (though they'll probably complete it even quicker than Storm novices), but otherwise I find it hard to recommend this game.

Presentation 93%
Loads of options and nice presentation screens make this a very attractive game.

Graphics 95%
Excellent and varied sprites, combined with very detailed and well-coloured sprites.

Sound 89%
Decent tunes and brilliant blastin' effects cause a stunning aural cacophony!

Playability 90%
Blasting those xenomorphs is mega-enjoyable and very satisfying from the word go...

Lastability 53%
...but the eight levels won't keep you occupied for very long at all.

Overall 71%
A very enjoyable, almost perfect conversion, completely ruined by the fact that it's incredibly easy to finish.