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Death Adder is to happy families what Phil is to seat springs - absolutely lethal. There's nothing he likes so much as knocking on people's doors, introducing himself, then lopping off some heads. His latest deed of unabashed badness is stealing the fabulous Golden Axe. For centuries this magical weapon has been secure in a castle in the land of Yuria. Its presence has ensured peace and prosperity but now its theft has plunged the land into chaos.

Three brave people have decided enough is enough. Axe-Battler is a muscle-bound barbarian whose favourite weapon is a hefty broadsword. He can't move that quickly, but he makes up for it with great strength. His mother was killed by Death Adder and he's determined to gain revenge. Gillus Thunderhead lost his brother to Death Adder, and this feisty dwarf carries a massive axe. He's quick on his feet and has a pulverising headbutt. Tyris Flare's favourite move is a shoulder block and she carries a sword, just like the barbarian. But she's the most agile character and has the most intense determination - both her parents were murdered by Death Adder.

At the temple the trio find a priest who can offer one of them incredible magical powers. Gillius can have powerful lightning, Tyris firestorms and Battler explosions. All these can only be activated by getting potions from the thieves who periodically run across the screen.

Each time you hit one you get a potion, increasing the power of your magic when used. Thieves also drop food to restore energy. You have three units of energy, five lives and three continue-plays, each with three lives.

Each of the main characters has a staggering number of moves, including two walking speeds (push right twice to run), piledrivers where you leap up to make lethal downchopping blows, kicks and so on. There's also two types of dragon to ride on, one breathes fire while the other spits lethal energy. They're also fast, can make crunching headbutts and disappear after just two hits!

The game pits you against ogres with spiked clubs, amazon women, axemen, skeletons and hulking end-of-level baddies such as Sumos and ultimately the Death Adder himself. Each villain takes you on one at a time. Sometimes you have to defeat four of them before the screen can scroll forward, each baddy taking several hits to fall and usually getting up for more before dying. More powerful blows down the baddies faster. There are five levels in all, each a multi-load.

After Turbo OutRun, Mark Kelly and Steve Crow have done another superlative conversion. The only compromise is the way you only fight one enemy at a time, but the action is incredibly hectic anyway. The large variety of opponents all attack in different ways and show a great deal of intelligence as they dodge your blows: unlike most beat-'em-ups you need to vary your method of attack to succeed.

Excellent sound effects and superb animation, complete with blur lines and whooshing FX on the swinging weapons, add to the excitement as you hack your way through gorgeously drawn scenery - the detail on the eagle-head bridge is incredible.

I also appreciated the clever strobe effect of magic potions with a range of dramatic effects for each of the three heroes. But my favourite scene just has to be the bit where you ride that cute little dragon - even if you do resemble Bernie Clifton on speed as you run around, breathing fire and doing headbutts!

This game just reaches out and grabs you. The beautiful presentation screens are the perfect intro for some superlative gameplay. The enemy characters look great and move surprisingly well. On later levels they really rush at you, the skeletons positively spring back to their feet when knocked down.

Fortunately there's three different characters for you to play, from the agile Tyris to the well-muscled Battler. Besides unique abilities, the characters all have masses of moves. To begin with, simple swordswipes are enough but later on you'll need to master more complex moves such as shoulder butts (double tap right) and the powerful piledriver. The huge range of moves, all superbly animated, mean you're always experimenting to work out the best tactics.

This makes for some great beat-'em-up action, but there's other elements too. Hacking at the fast-moving thieves for magic potions is good fun, bringing a spectacular reward when you activate the flick-screen magic later on. Then there's the dragons, which are brilliant to stomp round and roast villains.

All in all, gameplay has been superbly implemented putting it in completely different league from such tired beat-'em-up conversions as Shadow Warriors and Vigilante. But what lifts it into Gold Medal status is the superlative finish, the extraordinary graphics, presentation and overall effort.

Written by Visual FX for the C64 alone, this is an audio-visual treat for your C64 and can't be missed!

Presentation 96%
Excellent: intro load with superb title page, character portraits and selection screen. Continue-plays and good outro.

Graphics 97%
Beautiful, detail-packed backgrounds for large and superbly animated sprites. The main characters have an incredible number of moves, while the flick-screen magic is excellent.

Sound 93%
A choice of either superslick Maniacs music or FX, the latter a bit sparse but good with a great whooshing sound for sword swipes.

Hookability 97%
Instantly playable, the great intro sets the atmosphere perfectly and level one is designed to be fairly easy for beginners. Completing it should be no problem but...

Lastability 94%
...later levels are much tougher. Superb production values will keep you coming back for more.

Overall 96%
A perfectly produced beat-'em-up, oozing quality from every pixel. Shows just what the C64 can do.