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In The Detective for the 48K Spectrum, you must imagine you are a private eye who is trying to get through Dagger Alley to steal secrets from a mysterious safe. The game has 25 levels and if you reach the final level, which the insert warns is unlikely, you have ten guesses at the combination of the safe.

The game starts with the detective being pelted by unexplained objects which could be bells or possible cups; you score points by shooting at them but are threatened with extinction by old car tyres which gather together and drop on you if you do not move out of the way. The detective moves left and right along the bottom of the screen and if he disappears off one side he will reappear from the other.

The action is fast and even the first level is difficult but there is no explanation, either on the tape or on the cassette insert, as to what is happening, which detracts considerably from the interest of the game. Unless you are already firmly addicted to zapping anything in sight, this it unlikely to convert you. The Detective is produced by Arcade Software, Technology House, 32 Chislehurst Road, Orpington, Kent BR6 0DG. It costs £5.50.