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At last the flow of good American software imported by U.S. Gold reaches the Beeb! After months of mouthwatering ads in the computer press for classic C64 games, comes this reasonably good implementation of the 64 games for the BBC. Not before time.

The theory is easy enough - land troops on a beach-head and then advance to defeat 'the dictator' at his fortress. If rumours of the game's addictiveness have reached you then the very long loading time won't faze you and once past it you're into a multi-screen, 3-D, zappy sound, multi-skill level and joystick compatible game that is compulsive enough to keep you attacking until the early hours.

First, you have to decide whether to go for a straight frontal assault or try a sneaky touch and slide through the secret passage. The frontal approach is easy but you then have to do more work later; the passage is a separate screen where you have to manoeuvre your ships past mines and torpedoes. It's worth the effort, though, as the next stage ('General Quarters') consists of wave after wave of planes attacking however many ships you've managed to sneak through. If you've been cowardly and taken the frontal route, then you have to shoot down far more planes.

The fighters take a bit of practice to blast from the skies and the best tip is to move your guns laterally and let the planes fly into the stream of hot lead - if you chase them up and down the sky you'll find the next wave is upon you. Assuming you survive the planes, you next have to excell at naval bombardment - the screen doesn't change but the enemy ships start shelling. Return their fire (helped by 'short' or 'long' messages) and you move ever onward to the actual beach head.

Land your 'tanks and move through the defence systems until the final battle - the attack on Kuhn-Lin fortress. Having only 10 shells, you must destroy the fortress making every shot count - there are 10 targets but only one appears at a time. Here, you'll feel the need for tanks as the fortress cannon never misses.

All in all, an excellent game.

While some may question the morality of such unabashed paeans to brutality and macho adventurism, the truth at the game's end is that it is welldesigned, compulsive and 'excellent value. The loss of quality from the Commodore original is minimal and wi th the numerous scenarios it offers a range of games for the price of one.

What annoys me is that I've just seen Beach-Head II for the C64 and it's even better - how long. U.S. Gold? How long?

D.R.