Life on the streets is tough. You can't cross the road safely without being beaten to within an inch of your life and having your shoes stolen by muggers. Clearly something has to be done. How about an offender rehabilitation scheme? Or putting more Bobbies on the beat?

Nah, far too subtle. What's needed is someone to sort these street punks out once and for all. A vigilante; a Guardian Angel.

That's where you come in. You take control of the said GA, and it's your job to kick ass, and make sure that these villains never offend again.

You have three fighting moves with which to send the delinquents to the big prison in the sky. A punch will send the weaker ones reeling, whereas flying kicks are needed to flatten the bigger bad guys. A low kick is also part of your vocabulary of violence should you need to take care of some real vermin - the place is also inhabited by killer rats!

The action takes place in the docks. The screen scrolls as you make your way along. You'll meet a couple of sailors, which are easily disposed of, but the meanies get tougher and tougher as you go along. You'll meet fork-lift truck-driving hoodlums, and chainsaw wielding maniacs in the later stages.

Individually, all the baddies can be beaten fairly easily. But the vicious brutes surround you, and pile on all at once. Talk about kickin' a man when he's down; these gentlemen do it for a hobby!

When you get surrounded in this way you've no chance. You just have to resign your-self to the fact that you're about to lose another precious life.

Graphically, the game is very Spectrummy. The central playing area is a monotonous monotone. No effort has been made at all to add any colour to the Amstrad's checks. Sound is pretty pathetic, too. The effects are limited to feeble hitting sounds.

Guardian Angel is rather average. Easy to play and pick up. it just gets too difficult.

The graphics are nice and large, but every game is pretty much the same. Good, satisfying kickings and thumpings, but little else.

Reach Level Two.

Graphics 57%
N. Blatant Speccy port.

Sonics 34%
N. Limited thwacking sounds.

Grab Factor 68%
P. Easy-to-master moves.

Staying Power 47%
N. You get kicked in too often.

Overall 58%
N. A tiresome fighting game.