Lost in the translation

During my teenage years Kung Fu was all the rage, and Bruce Lee was its greatest exponent. I'd seen Enter the Dragon so many times that I knew each scream and yell backwards.

It was therefore with great excitement that I loaded up Bruce Lee from US Gold.

Lee, under your control, must penetrate the fortress of an evil wizard in order to claim his fortune. By destroying the wizard you willearn immortality and fabulous wealth.

The castle is constructed in the form of a series of ladders and levels-style screens. Bruce must run around these collecting the Chinese lanterns which hang from the buildings.

Only when every lantern has been collected will other gate ways open, allowing access to new rooms.

As lantern gathering is a bit of a namby-pamby task for our hero, a few bad guys are thrown in for light relief. These can be rendered unconscious with a flying kick or punch.

It is advisable to get the first punch in because once you hit the floor you are likely to lose several lives.

Your inscrutable opponent has a habit of kicking you as you get to your feet.

The graphics for both the characters and the background are very crude, containing little detail and being rather angular in design.

The animation is poor, with visible flicker evident on most movements of the characters.

Use of sound is negligible and there is no high score table. Once again US Gold has proved it can convert a first class Commodore 64 game into a third rate BBC version.

Jon Revis