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Here's a bit of a disappointment, I'm afraid. After we all got excited by Barbarian - normal 8-bit game that was unusual for the Beeb, semi-naked girl used in publicity, etc - I suppose it was too much to hope that Barbarian 2 would solve anything.

On the contrary, we have already seen a rival magazine to this one cover up the ample charms of (I believe) Maria Whittaker with an amazingly poorly drawn dress over her skimpy chain mail bikini. What nonsense, if oversexed Beeb game players really want to see some female flesh, then there are much cheaper ways of doing so than buying games from Superior at normal industry game prices.

But, behind the hype, what's the game like? Not too hot, I'm afraid, despite the skill and basic good naturedness of converter Pete Scott. The graphics are poor, the gameplay is almost non-existent, the skill level needed to kill many of the monsters is set too low, and so on, and so on.

That's a shame, because the game does try to be rather more than the original Barbarian. As well as killing loads of fighters and monsters (would you believe "mutant chickens" or "slithering things"? Please...!), you have to collect a number of magical objects on each of three levels. To make the game more complex, you can also enter caves and appear who knows where - get mapping, in other words.

So far, so boring. All of this might make the game worth seeking out with alacrity, but - to be frank - it's just not worth it. Poor graphics, poor gameplay, poor game - oh well, Superior, you can't be right every time.

Dave Reeder