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Konami had a really nice arcade coin-op with Jackal. It must have seemed a great idea to convert it to the home computer. A sure-fire hit. So what happened?

Okay, we know that any coin-op's graphics and sound suffer a little in the transition to the home micro... but this is ridiculous. Jackal on the Spectrum is in a sorry old state. And the Amstrad version isn't much better.

It even pips that other Konami disaster, Jailbreak, in the dire game stakes.

The graphics are naff and the sound - apart from an annoying little tune which plays over the controls selection - is non-existent.

Once again this game is about rescuing prisoners captured by the enemy. The rescue plan is codenamed Jackal and involves you rescuing the POW and dropping them off at various locations to be rescued by helicopter. You control what is supposed to be a jeep. It looks more like a box to me. It's mounted with a machine gun which appears to fire spasmodically. Grenades, missiles - short and long range - and starburst missiles can be picked up after certain huts have been attacked and the occupant picked up.

And that's it.

I just hope the other versions turn out better than this offering. So far the only Konami game which we can give the thumbs up to is Nemesis. Of course, other software houses have converted Konami titles with much greater success.

Ironic, isn't it?