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Trouble has reared its ugly head in the world of the Balls - trouble in the form of the cruel and evil Terry Ball. This spherical renegade has captured the happy family of Lover Ball, Eddy Ball, Glow Ball and No Ball, and is threatening to deflate them. Their only hope lies with I, Ball, a rotund and courageous fellow who managed to escape the clutches of the evil one. He alone has the ability, bank balance and good looks to rescue the stricken group. He alone can save his chums from puncture - you alone control his actions...

This mission of mercy involves negotiating sixteen vertically scrolling obstacle courses within an allotted time. Each course is made up of densely packed metallic obstructions, the majority of which are harmless. However, an occasional fatal flasher is encountered *en route*, with contact resulting in a loss of one of I Ball's five lives.

As the rounded adventurer picks his way through the lunatic scrap-metal courses he is attacked and bombarded by lethal devices. Microwave ovens, crabs, roulette wheels and Polo mints appear, flash for a couple of seconds, turn grey and pursue the hapless hero. During the flashing stage, an item is harmless and can be touched, however a grey sprite is always deadly.

For defence, there's a bubble-gun which sprays the hostiles with lethal fluid. The disadvantage of this weapon is that bubbles are only blown vertically, making our hero vulnerable to attack from the sides. Over-use results in the gun overheating, and it must then be allowed to cool down before re-use.

Occasionally, a power disc inscribed with an X appears - touching this gains our hero an extra feature. Turbo speed is the first adventure gained, followed by single and twin lasers which shoot from the sides. Extra scores and extended time are also added, along with fuel injection, hyper braking, electro shields, hyperspace, molecule bombs and smart bombs. Status panels at the top and bottom of the screen show which weapons are currently held. Power discs are destroyed by the bubble-gun, thus losing the weapon or feature it offers, and some discs are faulty, resulting in the loss of the last gathered weapon if touched.

I Ball's friends are imprisoned at regular intervals along the sixteen screen journey, and are released on completion of every fourth screen. If the radial one fails to complete a course before the numerical timer reaches zero, a life is lost and the course is started all over again. This is one adventure I Ball is never going to forget!

Yet another budget winner appears, this time in the form of a noisy vertically scrolling race game cum shoot-'em-up. Apart from being incredibly playable and addictive, I, Ball has some incredibly clear sampled speech. "I-I-I-I Ball" shouts the program to announce that it has loaded.

"Oh No!" it screams to show how disappointed it is that you've just lost a life and then lets the world know of a player's failure by yelling "Game Over!".

These utterings are complemented by a brilliant Rob Hubbard tune which thumps away throughout, making proceedings even more frantic. Purchasing I, Ball is a wise investment of two quid.

I was pleasantly surprised by my first encounter with I, Ball - it may take a while to get into, but it's deviously addictive.

The screen is beautifully adorned with a multitude of colours, yet it still manages to be easy on the eye. I love the different types of firepower, and having to work to capture equipment is very engrossing. I, Ball is 199 pence worth of sheer fun.

Okay, so the speech is incredible and the music is superb, but it would be nice if the game was of a similarly high standard. It's not awful, just a bit on the dull side - being a rather simple idea made a little more special by the unusual presentation.

Standing alone it seems to lack that certain addictive quality (as do so many games these days) and can be a little *too* difficult - especially on the later levels. Still, at two quid you could do a lot worse... and the speech and music *are* very good.

Presentation 73%
Simple title screen with the facility to play the speech with the music, but no high score table or restart feature.

Graphics 78%
Strange sprites and colours schemes are mixed together to provide an individual, yet effective, look.

Sound 95%
Fabulous speech, a brilliant tune and neat spot effects.

Hookability 81%
Tough, but instantly addictive and appealing.

Lastability 77%
Sixteen increasingly demanding levels to complete, and the action is fast, furious and compelling.

Value For Money 92%
Another budget bargain.

Overall 80%
An unusual and competent blend of shoot-'em-up and racing action.