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The Herzog, in case you didn't know (to be honest I didn't know till the Ed told me) was one of the Panzer range of tanks during World War Two. But Herzog Zwei isn't just a game about tanks. It's actually a game of conquest played between two commanders in real time on one of eight variously tortuous terrains. Dotted around each landscape are eight or so bases and the objective is to capture all eight by building and deploying a robot army of soldiers, tanks and other vehicles.

Each commander starts the game with one of the bases as his command centre. Other bases are empty, but the ones on the far side of the map belong to the enemy.

To capture a base a player has to get four of his infantry inside, but if an opposing soldier enters, it destroys one member of the occupying force. To prevent four opposing soldiers from getting in your need to build defending tanks and troops to destroy any enemy forces that come close.

Tanks and robots come in various forms, and can be programmed with a variety of orders, but building the more powerful machines takes longer and uses up more of your resources. Robots can only be programmed with one specific order, and that cannot be changed after construction has finished. So, for example, it's no use dumping an attack robot outside the command centre and expecting it to defend it.

Each player controls his forces from an armed Transformer robot, which can change into a jet fighter for transporting troops and vehicles from base to base. A small fuel capacity limits its range but by using captured bases as refuelling stations, it can carry forces far enough to reach the enemy command centre and win the game.

Console strategy games like this are as rare as one-legged fish, which is hardly surprising considering the trigger-pumping tastes of most console owners, but Herzog Zwei should hold the interest of all but the most mindless of blast-fans.

What sets it apart from other strategy games is the fact that everything happens in real time. Both players are in action simultaneously and there are no pauses while decisions are taken so you have to think on the move, or die. The computer is a ruthless, unremitting opponent even on the lowest difficulty level, so you won't stand much of a chance until you've fully got to grips with the different control modes and the command icons (they're fairly easy to grasp, even without English instructions).

With two players, Herzog Zwei is very playable, though, and it's good to see another game that helps establish the Megadrive as a "real" computer, not just a machine for immobilised arcade players.