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It's tough being a cyborg, just ask Professor Kildare. He was programmed by his creators to redevelop an Earth shattered by biological and chemical weapons unleashed during World War III. This task involves reverting all the now-mutated population of the planet back to their original forms - easier said than done. Still, at least he has perfected a method by which to do this, and his experiments with six subjects have proved more than successful. Now, his half-dozen combat-trained Ex-Mutants wage war on the evil mutant overlord known as Sluggo and his vile minions.

However, disaster has struck, with four of the team having been kidnapped by Sluggo whilst on a dangerous mission into enemy territory. It's now up to the remaining pair, Shannon and Ackroyd, to travel across the nine desolate wasteland levels, killing as many of Sluggos cronies as possible, rescuing your teammates as you find them and hopefully putting a stop to the Sluggo menace once and for all.

A platform beat-'em-up based on the zany antics of a group of comic characters.

Guide your characters across eight platform levels laden with adversaries, traps and other dangers.

The Ex-Mutants are obviously taking no chances and are determined to get themselves as well tooled-up as possible. Along with their primary weapons and power-ups, Ackroyd and Shannon also have access to the secondary weapon of their choice from the following list:

1. Grenades
   These hand-thrown projectiles explode on first contact.
2. Bouncing Bombs
   A second-generation grenade, these explode only on contact with enemies, and bounce harmlessly off walls or floors.
3. Landmines
   These stay put once dropped, and explode only when trodden on by an enemy. Good for disposing of pesky mutants giving chase.
4. Explosive Charges
   These time-bombs explode only once their short fuse has run out. Useless against foes, but good for blowing up doors, walls and floors.
5. Homing Orbs
   Although no more powerful than an axe-swing, the homing orbs track their foes relentlessly and explode once they make contact.

Up to three of these weapons may be thrown at once, although they come in limited supply, with more icons being needed to re-stock. Only one secondary weapon may be held at once.

The budding Ex-Mutant player has a choice of two characters for their adventure - Shannon or Ackroyd. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, along with their own armament and special weapons.

1. Ackroyd
   Ackroyd is a slow-moving character who wields a rather clumsy battle-axe. Although this means his fire rate is slow and his range is limited, the axe deals out a fair wallop of damage. Ackroyd's muscular physique also provides him with eight units of energy, one of which is lost every time he is hit.
2. Shannon
   Shannon's slighter frame endows her with a mere six units of energy, but she makes up for this in the speed of her movement and much faster attack rate. However, although her nunchaku whirl out death at a quick rate of knots, they do far less damage than Ackroyd's axe.

Although Ackroyd and Shannon both start the game armed only with their hand weapons, they are able to pick up other handy weapons, which fire alongside their regular devices, giving their attacks increased range. These weapons are lost when your character dies.

Nunchaku:
This icon allows Shannon to throw flail heads from her nunchaku. There are unpredictable, but reasonably powerful.

Shuriken:
Five of these fast-firing Ninja weapons shoot from Shannon's weapon once this icon is collected. Pretty powerful with a stable flight path, these are the far superior power-up.

Throwing Axes:
These fire in a similar way to Shannon's flail heads, arcing over enemies. However they're very powerful and are extremely useful should you be able to get the hang of them.

Daggers:
Firing straight and true, the daggers are a good bet for accurate targeting, but they're fairly weak compared to the axes.

Weapons and more weapons aren't the only things that Ex-Mutants grab on their journey into fear. There is also an assortment of non-massacre related iconery to find. Take a butchers at these:

1. Battery
   Professor Kildare urgently requires these to function. One is concealed in every level and you may not move on to the next stage until you have found it.
2. 1-Up
   A luvverly extra life for the fortunate Ex-Mutant who grabs this.
3. Food
   Refills the life gauge by two whole units. Mmmmm.
4. Heart
   Completely refills your character's life gauge.
5. Extend
   Increases the maximum capacity of your life gauge by a magnificent two units, although it doesn't heal any damage.
6. Coins
   Worth 250 points apiece. Collecting 100 coins yields an extra life and 2,500 points. All coins are lost when you lose a life though.
7. Bag Of Coins
   Contains a paltry ten coins.
8. Star
   500 point bonus.
9. Diamond
   1,000 point bonus.

At three points during the game, the player is whisked off to a speed level. Here, their Ex-Mutant is seen riding some high-velocity object. The first speed stage sees your hapless hero on a bumpy mine cart ride, with falling boulders and spiky rocks to dodge, along with enemies to kill of course.

The second stage is on a floating log gushing down river, with any number of aquatic enemies for the destroying. The third and final speed stage is set on the top of a moving subway train. Along with the myriad of hazards and enemies to battle, the tunnel also has a dangerous radioactivity level, so your character has to reach the front of the train before they are fatally irradiated!

Ex-Mutants will be most loved by those people who believe you don't have to be beautiful to be a benefit to society. The graphics are not so much bad as ropey, a little small and fuzzy, but (cliche coming) they do their job. The game itself is a lot more fun than the look suggests.

The levels are big, and filled with surprises, and the game doesn't appear to take itself too seriously - circular saws indeed. It's tough enough to provide some value, even with all those continues.

Looking closely, you see some of the bosses and traps are inspired by Konami's Castlevania series. One feature, that doesn't cost much in memory space, is the complex storyboard which intersperses the levels. This shows the programmer's attempt to give the game some individual character, which is hard enough given that it's basically an amalgam of umpteen platform games.

Ultimately, it's not the best at anything, but far from the worst of all.

Ex-Mutants rather plain looks belie its fantastic playability. The sprites are pretty feeble all round, ranging from rather poor main sprites to some, quite frankly, crap bosses. Still, that matters not a jot. Not even the dull tunes make a difference, although they're barely audible over the fairly good effects anyway.

Ex-Mutants is a fast and responsive platform beat-'em-up with loads going for it. There's always something going on and there's constantly milions of things to kill rushing on-screen. The sprawling layout of the levels means there's plenty to explore on your way to the exit, not forgetting to pick up that all-important power cell on the way.

Not only is Ex-Mutants highly playable, but it's rock hard too! Even with the large number of continues (although thankfully they are limited) it should take ages to complete. Even once you *have* beaten it, Ex-Mutants is the kind of game you'll keep on playing just because it's such a laugh. If you're despairing of the current state of Megadrive difficulty levels, grab a copy of Ex-Mutants most speedily.

Presentation 93%
P. Loads of options, intros and intermissions, with skiploads of comic-style dialogue.
N. Although that said, the dialogue is pretty flipping cheesy.

Graphics 84%
P. Smart backgrounds and groovy animation add atmosphere.
N. The sprites themselves are pretty duff and aren't worth two beans!

Sound 72%
P. The effects are good and there's loads of speech which often crops up during the game.
N. The music is too quiet, too dull and too repetitive.

Playability 84%
P. The game is very smooth, easily controllable and the action comes thick and fast.
N. It's not as original as it could have been.

Lastability 85%
P. There's nine long and tough levels to keep you going, and even once it's beaten, Ex-Mutants will still draw you back.

Overall 85%
A great game which is, for once, enhanced by its difficulty level. A priority purchase.