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Tense? Nervous? Headache? If your poor old bod is getting you down, why not ditch it, stick your mind into electronic storage and let a holographic body keep up appearances?

I'll tell you why not. The electronic gubbins is always breaking down and losing track of its occupants, and this is just what's happened to Hammerfist and Metalisis. They're annoyed to find that they now have to share one hologram, so they decide to smash the powerful mind storage corporation and its unscrupulous leader, The Master.

Luckily, having two people in one body is pretty handy in these situations. When a bit of running around or jumping is essential to the quest, you can switch the hologram into the form of either Metalisis (an agile woman with a mean kick), or Hammerfist (a meaty bloke with a laser-firing jack-hammer-hand).

The Master's complex is made up of 128 screens, all packed with his technicians and robots programmed for defence. These villains constantly assail our heroes, draining their energy while they bash up security consoles to open the way to the next room.

Bashed baddies drop sparkling fizzles which recharge Hammerfist's piston paw and his supply of laser shots, as well as replacing both or either player's lost energy. If both Metalisis and Hammerfist run out of energy, then they cease to exist in a rational sense and the game is over.

The first thing that strikes you about Hammerfist is the very complex control system which requires a variety of joystick movements accompanied by double and even triple fire button presses(!).

Initially, it all seems a bit too much, but persevere for ten minutes or so and you soon get into the swing of things. Once you get stuck into the gameplay Hammerfist becomes very enjoyable. The combination of two different characters in one works very well, and the action is satisfyingly destructive, though, if I were to quibble I would say the continuous need to collect energy makes progress slow.

Still, I suppose that makes the enjoyment last even longer. Marvellous graphics, marvellous sounds, marvellous gameplay. In a word, marvellous.

Programmed by Andrew Bond, the Amiga version sports impressive graphics and sound (with four selectable in-game soundtracks no less!) but gameplay remains exactly the same, right down to the weirdo controls. Still, any arcade fans would do well to check this baby out.