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Criminals are running amok in Cyber City, and the citizens are no longer safe. Somebody needs to bring law and order to the place - and that somebody is Eswat, a mega tough division of the Cyber Police who use robotic exo-skeleton suits to help them keep the peace.

Before you can actually join the ranks of Eswat, you've first got to earn your stripes (and your super Eswat armour) by completing two missions, which are set over multi-directionally scrolling cityscapes.

Dressed only in regulation police uniform and a bulletproof vest and packing a pistol, you must leap, run and jump your way around the landscape and dish out lead death to the many gun-toting criminals who try and stop you. A bar tells you how much energy you have - sustain more than four hits and you're a goner.

At the end of each level there's a guardian who must be destroyed. Get rid of the second one and you're given full Eswat armour, which is capable of sustaining more hits and can also utilise the power-up weaponry that lies scattered across the landscape. The following six levels are basically similar to the previous two, only the criminals are much tougher and use all manner of weapons and robots to try and get you.

Remember... be careful out there.

Basically, Eswat is Super Shinobi with all sorts of mega guns and hulking great suits of cyber-armour. But even though it's not very original, it's one hell of a game.

The sprites and backdrops are excellent, with brilliant parallax scrolling scenery, and all manner of beautifully animated baddies to blow into oblivion. The music is also great, with a variety of racing rock tunes and some meaty effects enhancing the atmosphere no end.

The difficulty level is nicely balanced to draw you into the game, and it doesn't take long to get to level four, but from there on things get pretty tough, and it takes quite some practice to crack the remaining four levels. And even if you get through the game, there are a further three difficulty levels to challenge you, adding extra lasting appeal.

If you're after a slick and highly playable arcade game, Eswat is the one to go for.