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It's not often that you get a game made exclusively for one computer these days - but Denton Designs and Ocean have come up with an exclusive for the Spectrum in Cosmic War-toad.

True to DD's style, the game is slickly presented with nice graphics and sound. Nice looking screens and good packaging complete the picture. But when it comes to gameplay. Well, it's basically a shoot-up with frills.

The usual elaborate Denton scenario comes with the game. And it goes like this. The Queen of the Cosmic Wartoads has been captured by the Rygellian Slime Beasts - deadliest enemy of her race - and transformed into a human female. Only the Slime Beasts know why.

She awaits her fate beneath a galactic guillotine in the Slime King's Lair. The player takes on the role of a heroic Cosmic Wartoad. You must battle across the Rygellian time-void, and dismantle the tortuous guillotine before it turns the Queen into prime cuts.

To complete the task you need to acquire a Cosmic Tool Kit. These eight items are scattered throughout the time vacuums of the Rygellian time void. They include incredibly useful items such as an Intergalactic Whisk, 3M Megawatt Light Bulbs, and a Death Ray Smutt Gun.

To travel, the player must pass through the time grid windows which contain various breeds of "nasties". Within these time grid windows Cosmic Willy - a tadpole! - comes to the player's aid. By acting as a cursor he enables the player to select which time node he wishes to occupy.

You start the game with a view of the "time-grid". You move the tadpole cursor to the zone you wish to visit and hit the fire button. Then you enter into a shoot-up with the alien creatures which inhabit that particular "node".

On each combat screen you get a "balance of power" readout which shows how you are doing in comparison to the enemy creatures. Let it creep too far in the enemy's favour and you'll lose a life.

Clear a screen and you open up more of the "time grid" - in similar fashion to Starion.

You can only move your Wartoad to directly adjacent "nodes" although there are eight linked nodes which allow you to beam around the time grid more easily once you have liberated them.

Ultimately - although the game is extremely well presented and documented - it gets repetitive and boring. Some nice ideas well executed - but let down because there's not much of a game in evidence.