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As ace helicopter pilots go, you're one of the aceiest [You're fired - Ed]. Your unrivalled air supremacy and steel-gutted bravery has earned you a place in the Gladiator Squadron - the cream of the best aerial tacticians congregate here, and you've already made a name for yourself thanks to your skill during various hell-bent conflicts.

Regular patrols over unconquered lands are part of the Gladiators rostra, and whilst scrutinising a rugged tundra one day a message crackles over the radio. The rasping noise is a frantic cry for help!

A series of small islands have been captured by unknown forces, who could prove to be a threat to all mankind. These once calm islands are of great strategic importance, so the Gladiators must wipe out the enemies hardware so the ground forces can move in. Freedom comes at a price, namely horrific warfare and bloodshed. Without thinking (or checking in your rear view mirror) you slam your copter into fifth gear and head out to blow the limbs off your unidentified opponents...

Gladiators is yet another horizontal shoot-'em-up. It's just you, your chopper and one big army. The islands consist of eight sectors, where the only skills required are fast firing and bullet-dodging. Tanks, planes, missiles and boats all must be dealt with and there's only one way - shooting them, no less.

The bottom of the screen depicts the cockpit layout, with altitude dials and read-outs, though this is purely for visual entertainment. One gauge works however: a damage meter which depletes with each hit. If it reaches zero, it's bye bye to a life.

To distinguish itself from the current batch of shoot-'em-ups, Gladiators should offer something quite memorable. Yet in comparison to other blasts it's only average. Faults lie not so much in the gameplay but in the plain, almost insipid graphics. The backdrops are virtually identical throughout, with barely any variation in colour. There's no contrast in the end-of-level enemies that materialise, and the power-ups are very un-powerful - I counted only one icon that upgraded the weaponry!

Explosions are merely small puffs of smoke, and ravaging a runway of planes while they're on the ground is like watering an allotment; the craft abruptly turn green like rotting vegetation. As a rule, end-of-level baddies are the best part in a shootie, but the same missile-firing helicopter appeared after every sector, only differing in the speed of its attack.

The cockpit's a neat touch but quite useless if it can't be used. Seasoned blast addicts will soon accomplish the task at hand because the levels are few, the difficulty setting is hardly formidable and over all its features don't poke out far enough. 67%

Take SWIV, rotate it through 90 degrees, remove the jeep and you're left with Gladiators. The most marked difference between the two is that the non-stop blasting action of SWIV is far more satisfying.

The action in Gladiators certainly gets furious, but poor sound effects and graphical 'sameyness' contrive to bring down a promising effort. The severe lack of power-ups is unforgivable and the end of level baddies, though hard to kill, are small and immensely feeble-looking. When you finish a section you want to see a "Waaah, what the £*@?" enemy who explodes spectacularly into thousands of pieces to a rousing fanfare from a well-practised brass band, not an over-excited tadpole.

Could (and should) have been better! 60%

Presentation 62%
Scenario-setting text that fails to encourage.

Graphics 65%
Hazy sprites, little background variation.

Sound 66%
Weedy nuke sounds, zero music.

Hookability 67%
Easy to get into, like most shooters.

Lastability 67%
A time-passer with a limited lifespan.

Overall 64%