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I've never really taken to wrestling. Call me Mr. Weirdo, but the sight of a couple of sweaty, overgrown blubbery whales rolling around on top of each other, glued together by head, thigh and various other parts of the anatomy has never really appealed to me.

Wrestlers grab each other by the hair (everywhere!), dig their elbows into vital organs and leap kamikaze style straight onto their opponents backs, squashing them flat on the floor. Don't they feel pain? Have they had their nervous systems surgically removed?

American tag-team wrestling is slightly different in two respects. One - it's American wrestling so it's more of a pre-choreographed dance routine than a fight; two - it's the wrestling equivalent of a tennis doubles match. And now Zeppelin have produced a new smash 'em up sim of the sport!

First pick which up-and-coming TT wrestling duo you wish to be. There are eight equally nasty couplets to choose from with names such as Frank N. Steen and Crusher McGirk (both from up north), Groucho and Jurgen Meatball, or, if you're smart, Einstein and Lord Harry.

Wrestling action includes standard punches and kicks but there are also numerous other moves at your disposal. For instance, you can eecute a pretty damaging flying kick by starting off with a rope-to-rope run and then pressing fire in mid-sprint. Ker-splay! Or what about a falling forehand smash. Simply climb the corner ropes and then leap off, hopefully landing whack bang on top of your unsuspecting foe! Ker-unch!

Once you've got your enemy down, you can keep him there by giving him a few elbow drops just to finish him off! Ker-ash!

One person can only take so much violence so when a fighter's energy meter is running dangerously low, run up to his partner-in-crime who's been standing by and cheering you on, awaiting his turn. Just "Tag" him and you'll you swap places - you're now controlling the second fighter on your team (although sprites are identical), whilst the other recuperates.

The game can be played single or two player mode, and you can select your wrestlers from all of the combinations on offer. There are no specific difficulty levels, but different combinations have different levels of strength so beating one pair doesn't guarantee success against another. Also, in tournament mode against the computer each successive pair becomes more tricky to fight.

This game is very addictive! Graphic-wise, it's monochrome and simple, yet thankfully clear - you can always make out what's going on.

I really have only two gripes. Firstly, the absence of any real sound When you give the opposing scum-bag a mouthful of your foot, it'd be nice to hear a complimentary CRUNCH just to add to the atmosphere and realism. Instead, we get nothing, which does take the edge off a bit, I found.

Also, once the enemy has thrown you over his shoulder onto the canvas that's it - you have very little chance of escaping and just have to grit your teeth and bear it! Yet when you have the opponent under your elbow, he seems to wriggle out with the most unsettling ease! This means that it's very hard to give as good as you get, but I'm sure all you talented beat 'em uppers out there will be able to give the "bad guys" a good thrashing for their money!

Because of this Tag Team takes a lot of getting used to and you really do have to get to know all the moves in order to defeat computer opponents. In human two player mode Tag Team Wrestling is a lot easier (depending on how good your opponent is though) and if you learn the moves and then hide the instruction manual your friends will be floundering around like amateur Joes against the mighty Lex Luger and a good friend of his from hell.

Despite a few very minor moans, Tag Team Wrestling is an enjoyable crush 'em up! it has lots of built in moves and playability and plenty of competition and high brow action. It's not sponsored by any big international wrestling organisations but maybe it should be 'cos it's well worth a not too bone-breaking £3.99

Label: Zeppelin Games Memory: 48K/128K Price: £3.99 Tape Reviewer: Mark Richards

Go out and pin those fat skull-crunchers to the canvas! Leaping off the corner ropes straight into their blubby bodies is more satisfying than a certain snack bar, making this an excellent wrestle 'em up that'd even put WWF to shame! (Nearly!)