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Tex Hex is a man of evil, living on the distant world New Texas. Though displaying wickedness to others, he himself is held in the grip of an evil spirit, Stampede, who has ambitions to dominate the planet. His intent is to revitalise ancient bones that can give him great power, but to do that he needs the magic of a captured Shamen.

Marshall Bravestarr sets out alone in this tie-in with the Filmation toy line to rescue the Shamen who was his childhood guardian, destroy Stampede and overthrow Tex Hex. But the evil pair have friends who haunt the planetary landscapes. Curs scamper along the ground, winged demons flap above, and marshall look-alikes all pose a threat. Contact with some will only slightly impair his energy levels, but others can take a life with a single shot. Even worse, large bombs can go off, leaving Bravestarr in a very shabby state.

The marshall carries a powerful side arm which can destroy most of his adversaries, earning points in the process. But the adversaries come thick and fast, and he is constantly ducking, or jumping from one building to another to avoid them. Bravestarr's firepower can be increased if he gathers the fast disappearing amulets which periodically appear in the landscape. Other amulets buy time.

There is plenty of scope for gathering information as he goes along. On entering the buildings of Fort Kerium he can ask the people there for useful hints. Bravestarr can pay for the information with money gained by selling off objects acquired on his travels.

By climbing aboard his rocket saddle, he can fly to other parts of New Texas. He can also enter caves and mines, and pick up more hints. But just over eight minutes are all that Bravestarr has in which to complete his mission.

Joysticks: Sinclair
Graphics: ranging from badly-drawn close-ups of people to fast-scrolling detailed town scenes
Sound: average effects add little life to the game

'Bravestarr is a highly addictive cowboy/shoot-'em-up game with brill graphics and colour and plenty to do. One minute you're roaming around a Western-style town and the next you are flying through the air on a saddle rocket on the way to another part of New Texas. Getting information out of the residents of the town is quite hard at first but after a while it gets easier. There is some clash now and then but it certainly doesn't spoil the enjoyment of the game. Bravestarr is great, watch out for it.'

'Another licensing deal just fails to hit the mark - Bravestarr is essentially a very uninspiring horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up. The only positive thing that can be said about the graphics is that the information is reasonably smooth; otherwise the use of colour is bland and the still shots (inside buildings) are very muddled. The scenario is pretentious: New Texas is very much like the old Texas, with a few unimaginative aliens thrown in. The action is far too repetitive and the initial play very unrewarding - controlling your character, particularly, is not flexible enough. Presentation is similarly weak: there is no title screen and a lot more attention could have been paid to detail. For example, when Bravestarr dies a grave appears on the spot - even in midair! Fans of the toys (and everyone else, for that matter) should be careful.'

'You'd certainly have to be brave to walk into a shop and buy this game. The graphics are so small and jerky that they hurt your eyes. The speed at which every thing happens adds to the confusion initiated by the see-through 'adversaries'. The idea of hunting out information in bars seems great (it's even better in real life), but this town likes to keep its secrets secret.'