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This is normally the place you'd come to find out what Assassin's plot is, right? If so, then I'm afraid you're going to be a little disappointed because, to be honest, there really isn't much of one to relate. Team 17 obviously realise (as they did with Project-X) that most games players don't need - or want - a lot of verbose bumf to read before they play an arcade game. Oh no, they just want to get straight in there and start killing things. "But the plot helps build atmosphere!" I hear you cry. Well, in my opinion if a game is good, it should be able to build atmosphere on its own, without the aid of some price-inflating novella

The story (what there is of it!) tells of the evil villain Midan who's holed up in his high-tech underground fortress, guarded by legions of crack mercenary types. A full frontal assault would, of course, be pointless so the forces of good send in a single man to penetrate the stronghold and kill the fiend. Destroy the head, you see, and the body will die. But this is no ordinary man, oh no, this is a man who has trained his body to its physical peak, a man capable of incredible feats of agility and courage. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the Assassin!

But the Assassin doesn't have to rely on himself alone. He's also been armed with deadly razor-sharp boomerangs and a limited supply of super weapons to help him cut a swathe through the enemy defences... and against this lot he'll need all the help he can get. As well as the mercenaries, there are genetically-engineered mutants roaming Midan's lair...

As you probably already know, Assassin - the latest release from the near-legendary Team 17 boys - is a runny-jumpy-killy affair strongly influenced by games like Strider. Will it be a disappointment after the brilliant Project-X? Will it heck...

As a big fan of the Strider coin-op, I admit I was more than a little-disappointed by the 'official' US Gold conversions of a few years back. So it was with no small amount of bated breath that I awaited the release of Assassin. And the good news is the wait has been worth it - Assassin is the game that Strider should've been... and much more besides.

The great beauty of the game is the control the player has over the Assassin - a massive array of moves are only a simple joystick twitch away. The control is so instinctive that you'll soon be hurling the Assassin around the screen at breakneck speeds with ease, completely forgetting that you've got a joystick in your hand at all. This is all backed up by some superbly fluid animation on the Assassin, helping the player to build up a strong empathy with him - sometimes, as the Assassin grunts and pants his way through the levels, you almost feel like you're there with him.

And while we're talking of grunting, special mention for the sound effects, which have to be some of the most imaginative and atmospheric I've ever heard - listen out for the groans and screams of the inmates in the genetic lab to hear what I mean.

Although the action is generally fast-paced, there are sections where stealth is more important than speed, forcing the player to think ahead and plan his moves with care - a mindless slash-'em-up this is not. Mind you, that's not to say there isn't sufficient bloody carnage to keep even George Romero happy, because there is.

You know, I've racked my brain to think of some serious adverse criticism to make of Assassin but, despite a mild grumble about the occasionally empty-looking backgrounds, I can't think of any. To put it simply, Assassin is yet another Team 17 masterpiece. Is there no genre that Team 17 can't come out top in? If they don't stop now, everybody else in the software industry might as well give up and go home.