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Will they ever learn? When smart-alec scientist technophile-types get a bee in their bonnet, nothing stops them. Even if they're doing something totally and utterly insane! Take these Hideous dudes. Determined to create a new power source (bless 'em), they 'invent' a new form of radiation - trouble is, it's so strong it oozes out of the reactor, seeps into the floor and turns all manner of garden insects into mutated, intelligent megalomaniacs (a bit like the editor, except for the intelligence).

Understandably peeved by their predicament, the mutated creepy-crawlies decide to wipe out the human race and conquer the world, after first taking over the underground Nuke complex. Your task is to drive a tank around the four-level reactor, blasting baddies and placing lead blocks around the offending isotope, rendering it harmless (and after that you'll probably turn green and die of cancer).

A maze-based shoot-and-collect-'em-up in the Vindicators mould, there's no denying Hideous looks very dated. There's not really that much to do: just collect the lead, eliminate the enemies, and kill the occasional force-field by flicking the right switches - which look just like beach balls!

You start the game with three tanks, each of which can take a certain amount of punishment before giving up the ghost. On early levels the monsters just lumber around waiting to be dispatched, but the further you get, the tougher they are - on the last level they even fire back! Fuel and ammo are limited, so look out for the replenishing points which hold an infinite supply.

Although blindingly simple, Hideous isn't a bad game by any means. As shoot-'em-ups go it's not particularly fast, but it's certainly good fun. The levels themselves are pretty large (the first have 30 screens, the game as a whole 120), giving plenty to explore. On the minus side it's about as deep as Phil's conversation and blast-'em-up fans will find it far too pedestrian.

However, that won't stop fans of the genre getting a decent mileage out of it. I can't see you playing Hideous forever - it isn't too tricky to complete where you understand the layout - but it's certainly fun while it lasts. A competent and enjoyable outing, but no more...

Hideous is a flashback to the days when computers were real computers, anoraks were real anoraks (Ian's eyes mist over with nostalgia) and maze/exploration games with a puzzle element were real maze/exp... [Yeah, we get the idea - Ed]. I can't profess to having missed this genre, but Hideous is a particularly good example of how, at a budget price, it can still work.

Exploring the maze and shooting the many mutants has a certain amount of charm with the slightly substandard graphics (a problem usually associated with maze games) serving their purpose.

With a cheap and cheerful price, Hideous is an okay game to play on a rainy day, but those who like their software fast and furious should steer well clear.

Presentation 67%
Nothing really wrong; nothing really blinding

Graphics 72%
A bit dated and Spectrummy, but the parallax is great

Sound 35%
What's there's OK, but there's far too little of it

Hookability 80%
Well, it's really easy to get into...

Lastability 60%
...but perhaps just a little too easy!

Overall 71%