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Far off in the future, mankind is becoming weaker with every generation as their gene structures struggle to keep up with the environment. A race of robot frames with human brains are the only hope for the future.

At present they're undergoing rigorous testing in the bio challenge.

The special test dimension consists of six levels, each of which can contain up to six planets. Your objective is to collect four pieces of amulet, obtained by destroying enemy robots, by crunching them by dropping a power slab onto them. Once this has been done, a special guardian must be destroyed (using ammunition collected on previous levels) to allow access to the next level.

It's nice to see someone coming up with a fresh aspect on a familiar theme instead of churning out the normal scroll 'n shoot Amiga game. Bio Challenge is quite a weird game when you first play it, but you are soon dragged in by the atmospheric presentation and quickly adapt to the strange control method.

Even when you think you've got it sussed, the odd alien thingy can stomp on you making you just that little bit more determined to come back and win next time. Right, I'll get you this time, you metal son of a...

The most striking thing about ths is the superbly atmospheric presentation, complete with a very "Tron-like" transformation sequence at the start of the game. The in-game appearance is equally impressive, with some excellent graphics and very good sound.

The game itself is rather fiddly to get into, since the control method is a little out of the ordinary, but only in much the same way as when beat-'em-up games first appeared with their strange control configurations. Once you get used to it, it's quite hard to drag yourself away from the machine.

Don't be fooled by the naff painting on the box, 'cos inside lurks a well presented and highly playable - if somewhat unusual - game.

Presentation 86%
Atmospheric and well-planned, but the loader is a bit sluggish.

Graphics 92%
Weird sprites, excellent backgrounds and good intermission screens.

Sound 94%
Powerful effects and a brilliant soundtrack.

Hookability 76%
The control method takes some getting used to at first.

Lastability 89%
Once you get the knack, it becomes rather addictive.

Overall 84%
An unusual combination of themes which comes out working surprisingly well.