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This is the one and only release by Richard Wilcox Software Ltd. Sad you might think, were it not for the fact many of the people involved promptly formed the extremely successful Elite next.

The game which started the ball rolling has you as the only escapee of a merciless assault by alien attack troops. It's your moralistic duty to break behind enemy lines and rescue your captured comrades.

Using the fabulous new jetcopter Blue Thunder, you must break the barriers which shield the alien stronghold and, with guts, determination and pinpoint joystick accuracy, take out the various enemy defences which are the one thing standing between agonising solitude and joyous reunion.

Despite Blue Thunder being the game which effectively breathed life into Elite, it can't stand up against the majority of budget re-releases on the streets today. Graphics are tired and jaded with poor use of colour (dark blue chopper on light blue sky - see what I mean?). Gameplay is fun, albeit a tad difficult, but again, there are ultimately more interesting titles to be found underneath the piles of cheapies littering those already heaving retail outlets.

If you're after a cheap touch of nostalgia, by all means try out Blue Thunder. But if you're a bit short on cash (or a meanie) I'd go for Encore's much better Airwolf instead. And I got out of huffing Encore there. Clever, eh?