Remember when Sylvester Stallone was big news? Now the muscular midget has had so many flops he can barely get 10p for a cup of tea, but in the days of Cobra - well, he was head honcho, hotter than lava and no mistake. Ocean bought the licence, and turned it into not a bad little game - horizontally scrolling, terminally violent, and about as subtle as a Big Mac (and twice as greasy). "This is where the law stops... and you start," screamed the cassette inlay, and really you couldn't blame them. We're talking about the sort of game where you "use the Head-Butt feature to defend yourself and collect limited weapons hidden inside Beef Burgers" (see, I was right about the Big Mac). On each scrolling section there are usually about three or four levels of ramps and platforms you can jump around on, avoiding bullets and seeking out nasties to kill, and in all there are three 'playfields' (this is the sort of game you'd expect Mrs Whitehouse to get upset about, isn't it?). To move to the next you need to collect all four beefy weapons and rescue Ingrid (touch her and she will follow you - but then that's just the kinda guy I am).

But is it fun? Well, the graphics are very lively, and I have no complaints on speed, but Cobra remains exceptionally difficult. if you're the sort of gamester who finds those Dinamic games (Freddy Hardest and wotnot) a piece of cake, then you'll love this. But ordinary mortals might not get far beyond the first couple of screens - at least, not without an awful lot of practice. If you're into hard games, it's a winner. (You thought I was going to call it 'a load of old cobras', didn't you? Wrong.)