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The evil Burai are invading Earth and you've got to stop them!

Set over seven levels, Burai Fighter's hero is armed with a death-dealing weapon. Some aliens leave behind tokens when killed, and these cycle through the options so that the token required can be selected.

Each level's end is guarded by a huge and ferocious creature, and only tactics and skill enable the Fighter to get past. Luckily, our hero's weapon can fire in any direction, so he's not limited to staying in front of the baddies. Let's hope that's enough to save his bacon from a right frying!

Burai Fighter is another shoot-'em-up to make it on the Nintendo. Tiger Heli, released in 1989, stars a helicopter fighting off swarms of enemy tanks and aircraft.

Konami's Gradius was well-received when it was released, but the sequel Life Force had more monsters and a better array of power-ups. To The Earth is a Light Gun game (in fact, one of the best!) where the player shoots his or her way through the planets to deliver vital medication to our planet!

Grabbing the right power up makes all the difference in Burai Fighter. Here's a selection of the tokens in the game:

1. Laser This creates a blue beam of light that is very destructive, but has a limited range.

2. Missiles Adds powerful missiles to the weapon that destroy everything in their blast radius.

3. Ring Bright globules of doom to all in their way, the rings are an essential part of the armoury.

I'm fairly unconvinced about this game. The graphics and sound are quite pleasing, but the monotony of the challenge fails to thrill me at all. Why is the game so hard?

There's nothing wrong with a stiff fight, but when the slow-moving bullets give the player no chance to escape their path it tends to stop the game from being fun. I think that a lack of genuine enthusiasm from the programmers has resulted in a mediocre game here, and there are much better shoot-'em-ups available for the Nintendo (like Life Force), so unless you're desperate for a new blaster this shouldn't be top of your list!

Since the Nintendo doesn't have many shoot-'em-ups in its software range, Burai Fighter is a welcome addition as far as I'm concerned. Although there are only three extra weapons, each has nine different grades of power and can be cycled through in the heat of battle - essential, since some weapons are more effective than others in certain situations!

On the normal level, the game isn't particularly tough, but the two other skill levels offer plenty of challenge for experts - I certainly got plenty of fun out of it. If you're a shoot-'em-up fan like me who's after a good Nintendo blast, check this out.

Presentation 69%
The dreary text and rubbish title picture fail to provide atmosphere.

Graphics 79%
Smooth scrolling and ingenious sprites make this impressive to look at.

Sound 63%
The tune tries desperately to be exciting, but is actually dismal.

Playability 83%
Shoot-'em-up experts should find this easy to get into; novices might find it a little frustrating.

Lastability 73%
There's plenty of blasting to keep you occupied, with lots of variety and some neat end-of-level baddies.

Overall 79%
An enjoyable and challenging shoot-'em-up which should be checked out by Nintendo blasting fans.