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The latest budget release from Atlantis features Light Fingers Lonegan who is raiding the headquarters of the Acme Diamond Company. He has set off the alarm system, which means the whole building is swarming with police. Lonegan must try to find all the diamonds, open the safe and escape to his car.

Points are scored for collecting diamonds. These gems look suspiciously like an asterisk symbol and may be coloured blue or green. I had to guess they were meant to be the jewels.

Additional points are scored for shooting policemen. Lonegan is armed with a 0.45 Magnum. His poor carrying capacity necessitates frequent trips back to the getaway car.

If Lonegan makes the trip to the cellar, the policemen are replaced by ghosts. They are hell-bent on tracking down the villain, but are armed only with truncheons, which means they must get close to Fingers to be able to haul him off to jail.

The other activity Lonegan must attempt is safe breaking. This involves finding a three number code by guesswork. The numbers on the safe change in response to a prod from the robber's nose. I have not yet cracked the combination.

The graphics aren't really up to par, even for software at this price. The sprites are simple and undergo a sort of jerky animation, but the overall speed of movement is quite good. The scenery that supports the action can probably best be described as plain or perhaps boring.

I find this game wholly inappropriate. It strikes me as abhorrent that success is measured by the ability to shoot policemen or steal diamonds. It should have been given a fantasy setting where the nasties which must be shot are not recognisable as creatures from the Earth.

Cops 'N Robbers was never destined to be a blockbuster. As it stands it surely must be given a miss.

Rog Frost