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Taito's Flying Shark may be hot from the arcades but Firebird's conversion is really only lukewarm. Somehow it just fails to come alive. The shark has lost its bite.

However, if you've never played the coin-op, you won't know what you're missing.

Now it's own up time. I've never been the greatest Spectrum fan. The games have always suffered when compared to those on the Commodore 64. But I found Flying Shark much more playable on the Speccy than on the C64. I was able to get much further into the game. Strange, but true.

In both games you, as the lone pilot, take off from an aircraft carrier, armed with an endless supply of bullets and a few bombs to battle through five levels of planes, tanks, gun emplacements, patrol and battleships.

You need quick reactions to blast those pesky pilots out of the air. Hitting the space bar enables you to drop smart bombs which can wipe out a whole screen of opposition. But you only have a limited supply, although you can pick up fresh supplies.

This game is all about scoring. By blasting the yellow squadron out of the sky, you get 1,000 points. Destroying the red planes you get extra firepower if you can pick up the symbol.

Wiping out the blue planes gives you the chance of an extra life.

And that's basically the game. It's even onwards into the wide blue yonder. Finger on the fire button.