It's what Saturday mornings were made for - mindless TV shows and brill cartoons. There was a golden time when, in a sleep-filled stupor, it was possible to flick quite freely between Real Ghostbusters and Defenders Of The Earth. Now Ghostbusting is OK but, it ain't got that hip and groovy tune at the front end like Defenders. "Oh Four become Eight defending the Earth" [Stop singing, and stop singing now! - Ed]

This "kicking" tune is also the way games-players are welcomed to the world of Flash, Lothar, Mandrake and Phantom on the CPC. Ming leers over the title screen, with that all-powerful, merciless, very green look he does so well. Jedda and the rest of the 'L' plate defenders aren't to be seen, but Zuffy - the cutesy thing they always throw into these shows - makes the occasional appearance.

The state of play is this: the aforementioned young whippersnappers have been kidnapped by Ming and his Ice Robots. The Defenders Of The Earth 'posse' have to try and get them out before Ming thinks up a really nasty fate for them involving power tools and blamanche.

The Defender chosen to bear the brunt of the mission is Flash 'Saviour of the Universe' Gordon. Armed with a blaster and three protective shields, he has to run through the palace, avoiding or trashing as many robots as possible, trying to find the kids. The main opposition comes from small leaping box droids, zombies with bazookas, and flying dustbin lids. They all take a lot of killing, so Flash '14 hours to save the Earth' Gordon has to be super sharp on the shooting score.

More Ming problems become apparent if Flash 'same red suit for 40 years!' Gordon hangs around in one room too long. Then, the intruder alarms sound and the little energy he's got left drains away.

The playing arena is composed of flick screens - which means you get some exceed-ingly nasty surprises - and doorways. For most of the portals you just send FG in and press the stick to spirit him to the next room. Some, though, are locked and this is where the other Defenders chip in. As soon as Flash 'convincing rocketships' Gordon finds one of these he has to summon help.

Pressing '1' alerts Dmac-X (the Defenders' super computer), who sends the best-suited defender to the aid of the Defenders Of The Earth's beleaguered leader. Then he hangs around, killing all the time, while they open the door.

There are bits and bobs to pick on the road, important of which are the energy shields, which act as life counters. Flash 'best swim-mer on three planets' Gordon takes heavy damage from the word go. Even with three lives and a bar full of energy, he's still lucky to live for more than a couple of mins! There are simply to many foes, too often.

When Enigma Variations announced that it had nabbed the Defenders Of The Earth licence, there was a great deal of scepticism. Gilbert hardly showed promise, being a Speccy port and all.

And this makes the graphics and speed of Defenders Of The Earth seem all the more shockingly good. The sprites aren't the most original, but there's an awful lot of them. Then throw in huge end-of-level guardians (remember Ming's chief computer Octon? Finish Level One and you will!) and you've got a tremendously packed game, graphically speaking.

Unfortunately Defenders Of The Earth is a shoot-out only for the hardened few. Its level of difficulty is pitched way too high, with too many enemies attacking far too soon, and then having the nerve of being too darned hard to kill! The flick-screen system only makes life even more difficult. Countless times Flash 'Ahhhhahh' Gordon walks from one room to another, only to fall over a droid who immediately drains half his energy! As you can imagine, it all makes for some very intense gaming.

Defenders Of The Earth hangs together well, but could use an easier intro. With this many enemies it might be better turning to the real Defenders to help. The robots wouldn't have a hope against red tape, waffle and acid rain, but with a blaster the Defenders have to be red hot to stand even a slight chance.

Looks good and moves slickly, but it's just too damned hard!

Complete Level One.

Awkward in places (or even palaces!)

Graphics 77% P. Fast flick-screens. N. Run-of-the-mill enemies.

Sonics 88% P. Brilliant theme music.

Grab Factor 44% N. Very tough from the start.

Staying Power 33% N. Even tougher later on!

Overall 61% N. Great licence, but overly difficult.

Trenton Webb