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Not the game of the Clive Barker book, that's Nightbreed, but rather the conversion of a somewhat obscure coin-op. As always with arcade games the plot is a little thin on the ground. A US commando or two have been selected for a high-risk mission: penetrating twenty static-screen levels to destroy the Enemy's base.

Before you can admire the first of the pretty, albeit non-moving background screens you come under attack. Your man is at the bottom of the screen with a gunsight cursor floating before him. Push the joystick left or right and both man and cursor move accordingly.

Push up or down and only the cursor moves, hold down Fire and you can move the cursor any which way without the man moving. Bullets are unlimited, unlike grenades which can take out tanks, helicopters, buildings and people who look at you the wrong way.

Thrown out of the wreckage come icons to land at the bottom of the screen. Walk over to pick up extra points, grenades, or mega weapons such as a bazooka or a machine gun (lost when you lose a life). The aim of the game is to destroy so many

To be honest I didn't expect much of Cabal, despite the traditionally great Wakelin cover art the game looked set to be a rather feeble Operation Wolf clone.

But once you actually start playing, doubts are swept away. The action is fierce and relentless. Running left to right, from cover to cover, while all the time blasting away at the enemy soon has you bathed in sweat.

It's neat how you're constantly torn between watching over your man at the bottom of the screen, and moving the gunsight cursor usually near the top.

In my opinion, it's a more playable game than Operation Wolf and gives Operation Thunderbolt a pretty tough run for its money as well.

You soon forget the lack of smoothly scrolling backgrounds once you, and a friend, get involved in the bloody, and lmost overwhelming combat.

Gameplay this fast and furious shrugs off accusations of simplicity and unoriginality: it's great fun, period. The backgrounds are colourful, but lack the detail you'd expect of static screens.

The sprites more than make up for it though: the main sprite has real character, well animated with some dramatic poses. Enemy tanks and soldiers are equally impressive, and while sound is limited to the usual bangs-and-booms this is a top-notch product, well worth the asking price.

Presentation 76%
Good title screen, two-player and keyboard options.

Graphics 82%
Great sprites but disappointing backgrounds.

Sound 65%
Okay title music, but no in-game tune and only average FX.

Hookability 94%
You can't have much more simply addictive fun than this.

Lastability 77%
20 screens, but not much variety in the attack waves.

Overall 89%
A good, solid blast-'em-up!