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This has been converted from an arcade game, so you can guess the basic idea. That's it, the single pilot battling against overwhelming odds, armed with only a single fun and a few smart bombs... and so on.

This time he's piloting a fighter bomber bi-plane, trying to advance as far as possible into enemy territory... well, you know the rest.

At first you really are armed with only one gun and a few bombs which destroy all enemies within a certain range. By shooting a fleet of special aircraft and collecting the capsules that appear, you also get multi-fire cannons which become more powerful the more capsules you collect. Extra bombs can be collected by destroying certain tanks along the way.

These days, a shoot-'em-up has to have some outstanding feature to lift it above the wealth of blasting games currently on the market.

Unfortunately, Flying Shark has absolutely no remarkable feature designed to win over the half-hearted gamer. The arcade version boasted very pretty graphics and sideways scrolling to expand the play area whereas the Amiga has fairly nice graphics, but has lost the sideways scroll.

I can't really see why, 'cos the Amiga certainly has the power to include them. Pity they didn't make the extra effort.

As arcade conversions go, this is rather weak, *but* as shoot-'em-ups go, it isn't too bad. Once you've got over the fact that Firebird hardly seem to have bothered about how accurately they've converted the game, it's quite enjoyable to play.

It is a little unfair at times, though - especially when you lose a life to a team of fighters pumping bullets in all directions - but you soon learn the tactics to overcome this. A high price for an average conversion.

Presentation 50%
A score table and two difficulty levels is your lot.

Graphics 71%
Adequate sprites and rather flat backdrops.

Sound 24%
Weak spot effects and an absolutely dire soundtrack.

Hookability 70%
The going is tough and frustrating for the first few plays.

Lastability 67%
Not a great deal of variety, but it will take some getting through.

Overall 68%
An average blast with no real distinguishing marks.