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Balls. A word which aptly describes this game. For they are indeed the very subject matter of this title. Yes, the ball game of the future is unlike any we know today. It's not soccer or even rugby, but the mighty metallic game of Balljacks. This game is played in an arena using two robot crabs, each of which has a conveyor belt running behind them loaded with balls.

The object of the game is to use your crab's pincers to steal your opponent's spheroids and load them onto your own conveyor belt. Once this is done, your foe's Critical Time Meter, a matter of seconds, begins to run down, and only stops once he grabs a ball back, or it runs down completely and the round is forfeit. The first player to get three rounds wins the match.

An overhead viewpoint is the order of the day here, with the up and down moving your crab along the rails and the joypad buttons operating your rocket-powered pincers.

An all-new game based on robot crabs.

Steer your little crab up and down the screen in an attempt to pinch your opponent's balls. Oh, tee hee! I said 'balls'!!!

Each crab is equipped with a pair of rocket-powered sucker pincers. At the press of a button, one of these flies off straight in front of the crab, glues itself either to a ball (if it hits one) or the wall behind, and then homes back in to wherever the crab is.

The A and C buttons control one claw, whereas the other is fired using button B. If the pincer has a ball in its grip the best idea is to try and damage your opponent by dragging the ball through them. Once a crab takes too much damage they lose the use of one or both of their claws. Once this lattter happens they have to crawl into their crab dumper, where they are replaced with a fresh mechanoid.

If one of your spheres is heading over to your opponent, it's possible to reclaim it simply by grabbing it out of your rival's grasp. Just aim at the ball and fire your pincer, although the other player does get a chance to steal it back off you again!

Only strategically placing your crab to alter the flight path of your homing claw avoids half hour no-give-it-here-it's-mine tussles.

Balljacks really is quite a simplistic game, make no mistake. There's one arena and a whole five opponents in the World Championship and that's about it. However, despite everything there really is some kind of perverse enjoyment to be gleaned from playing Balljacks.

Once you have your tactics sussed and you know what you're doing when it comes to grabbing the balls and smashing up your rival it's actually quite a laugh. Some of the computer opponents are incredibly devious and are able to steal all the spheres and destroy your crab in seconds.

In fact, as you get a bit into the game you realise how completely unfair it is, with the difficulty level merely appertaining to the impossibility of the strategies pursued by the opposition. However, these problems are gone in two-player mode, and it's easy to while away the minutes with a quick game of Balljacks. The thing is, whilst you may find yourself enjoying the game, you're laughing more at it than with it.

The basic concept is quite novel, but it's all far too limited to have any real lasting appeal.

Oo-er! Balljacks really is a cheap and nasty game. The action, although fast, is utterly simplistic - basically being a case of pinching the other player's balls (fnerk!) and doesn't really grab the player at all. In fact, the most enjoyment you get out of this is by laughing at how forlorn and sad it is.

However, as Rad says, the action is strangely compelling - especially with two players (where you usually end up comparing notes on the game's deficiencies and laughing wickedly). That, coupled with the game's novel idea, keep you glued to the console for quite a while. I can't honestly recommend that you shell out real cash buying this game. I'd save the money and save up for a far more worthy purchase.

Presentation 67%
P. Plenty of options and a couple of half-hearted presentation screens. N. It's actually all pretty lame.

Graphics 73%
P. The crabs are quite good. N. The arena gets boring after a while, and that's the only other graphical element.

Sound 65%
P. Zzzz. A small selection of dull tunes and muffled sub-Master System effects.

Playability 67%
P. Quite fast and strangely absorbing. N. Although it's actually mind-numbingly bland.

Lastability 58%
N. Not enough opponents to beat and the shallow gameplay means it probably won't last long.

Overall 63%
Weirdly enjoyable - for a short while. After the novelty wears off, Balljacks' appeal plummets faster than that 'plane out of the movie Alive.

Balls. A word which aptly describes this game. For they are indeed the very subject matter of this title. Yes, the ball game of the future is unlike any we know today. It's not soccer or even rugby, but the mighty metallic game of Balljacks. This game is played in an arena using two robot crabs, each of which has a conveyor belt running behind them loaded with balls.

The object of the game is to use your crab's pincers to steal your opponent's spheroids and load them onto your own conveyor belt. Once this is done, your foe's Critical Time Meter, a matter of seconds, begins to run down, and only stops once he grabs a ball back, or it runs down completely and the round is forfeit. The first player to get three rounds wins the match.

An overhead viewpoint is the order of the day here, with the up and down moving your crab along the rails and the joypad buttons operating your rocket-powered pincers.

An all-new game based on robot crabs.

Steer your little crab up and down the screen in an attempt to pinch your opponent's balls. Oh, tee hee! I said 'balls'!!!

Each crab is equipped with a pair of rocket-powered sucker pincers. At the press of a button, one of these flies off straight in front of the crab, glues itself either to a ball (if it hits one) or the wall behind, and then homes back in to wherever the crab is.

The A and C buttons control one claw, whereas the other is fired using button B. If the pincer has a ball in its grip the best idea is to try and damage your opponent by dragging the ball through them. Once a crab takes too much damage they lose the use of one or both of their claws. Once this lattter happens they have to crawl into their crab dumper, where they are replaced with a fresh mechanoid.

If one of your spheres is heading over to your opponent, it's possible to reclaim it simply by grabbing it out of your rival's grasp. Just aim at the ball and fire your pincer, although the other player does get a chance to steal it back off you again!

Only strategically placing your crab to alter the flight path of your homing claw avoids half hour no-give-it-here-it's-mine tussles.

Balljacks really is quite a simplistic game, make no mistake. There's one arena and a whole five opponents in the World Championship and that's about it. However, despite everything there really is some kind of perverse enjoyment to be gleaned from playing Balljacks.

Once you have your tactics sussed and you know what you're doing when it comes to grabbing the balls and smashing up your rival it's actually quite a laugh. Some of the computer opponents are incredibly devious and are able to steal all the spheres and destroy your crab in seconds.

In fact, as you get a bit into the game you realise how completely unfair it is, with the difficulty level merely appertaining to the impossibility of the strategies pursued by the opposition. However, these problems are gone in two-player mode, and it's easy to while away the minutes with a quick game of Balljacks. The thing is, whilst you may find yourself enjoying the game, you're laughing more at it than with it.

The basic concept is quite novel, but it's all far too limited to have any real lasting appeal.

Oo-er! Balljacks really is a cheap and nasty game. The action, although fast, is utterly simplistic - basically being a case of pinching the other player's balls (fnerk!) and doesn't really grab the player at all. In fact, the most enjoyment you get out of this is by laughing at how forlorn and sad it is.

However, as Rad says, the action is strangely compelling - especially with two players (where you usually end up comparing notes on the game's deficiencies and laughing wickedly). That, coupled with the game's novel idea, keep you glued to the console for quite a while. I can't honestly recommend that you shell out real cash buying this game. I'd save the money and save up for a far more worthy purchase.

Presentation 67%
P. Plenty of options and a couple of half-hearted presentation screens.
N. It's actually all pretty lame.

Graphics 73%
P. The crabs are quite good.
N. The arena gets boring after a while, and that's the only other graphical element.

Sound 65%
P. Zzzz. A small selection of dull tunes and muffled sub-Master System effects.

Playability 67%
P. Quite fast and strangely absorbing.
N. Although it's actually mind-numbingly bland.

Lastability 58%
N. Not enough opponents to beat and the shallow gameplay means it probably won't last long.

Overall 63%
Weirdly enjoyable - for a short while. After the novelty wears off, Balljacks' appeal plummets faster than that 'plane out of the movie Alive.