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It was a tense tea-break for Bond and M at their secret HQ in London, England. The normal old boy japery between the dashing secret agent and his boss was much subdued by the circumstances of that day. "As I am sure you are well aware 007, last night the arch-villain Ernst Blofeld successfully hijacked the yacht being used by the forthcoming Miss World competition. As it transpires, all the contestants were on board, every last one including the favourite Miss Brazil, and our own old boiler, Miss UK. It seems they were rehearsing swim-wear and beach bikinis out in the Solent. However, the main matter in hand is to get the gels back, or the bounder will hold the world to ransom for the beauties. We now where he is hiding out - a custom-built island fortress just off the Scilly Isles."

"Locating Blofeld and bringing the hostages back are two completely different matters, so that's why we chose you for the job. I know you can handle any 'surprises' our friend Blofeld may have lined up, and that you will act with the greatest propriety towards the girls, here is your file on the base."

The mission notes confirm Bond's worst fears. The island is a massive complex of connected platforms, spread over a huge area, crawling with Group Four security guards. Winning through would test his climbing and shooting skills to the limit. He also realised that destroying the nerve centre of each level of Blofeld's complex would need to be done in order to save the world!

As you may imagine, Bond is back again, and in a big way!

This is the latest product in a long run of Domark/Bond licensed games. The Duel isn't based on any Bond movie.

James Bond is a platform game, requiring shooting, jumping and exploration skills.

Bond is under constant fire from Blofeld's security men, all clad in grey, following the usual corporate image of evil villains' fortresses. Each has a regulation pistol and doesn't hesitate to shoot on sight.

Later on, special security men in black test Bond's marksmanship to the limit. To balance the odds, Bond carries his Walther PPK with him everywhere, with enough ammunition to liberate Bosnia!

However, be careful, because sometimes Bond has to stop and change an empty magazine, which gives the enemy time to blow him into the middle of next week!

To avoid the guards and Blofeld's traps Bond can use the scenery around him. Just like Rolling Thunder, there are plenty of doorways Bond can hide in. When standing concealed in these openings, the guards run on past their quarry and Bond can give them the slip.

Using unconventional methods can yield results. On the first level swimming in the sea can get you past some tricky guards. On the forest level climbing along creepers brings you to a hidden platform you can use to your great advantage.

Super villains are notoriously picky about the performance of their minions. More than one oafish thug has been fed to the piranhas for failing in their allotted duties. But this time Blofeld has tried to ensure no hitches occur by hiring the best of the past Bond enemies and placing them around his island fortress.

On the first level, Bond is surprised to find Jaws, the 'gentle' giant of Moonraker, threatening to throw him into the water. On the forest level is the knife-throwing presence of Baron Samedi (Live And Let Die). Next, there is a fleeting cameo of Mayday (View To A Kill) and on the final level is the lovable hat-throwing Oddjob from Goldfinger. With this lot, Blofeld should have no need to complain.

I was really looking forward to playing this one. After all, James Bond is an excellent licence and is well-suited to a console game. Unfortunately, I found James Bond 007: The Duel to be lacking in certain departments.

First of all, Bond himself is just too unresponsive to work well in the game. The animation is way too slow. When you want 007 to fire, he spends ages lifting his weapon and pulling the trigger. You have to try to predict when guards appear in time for your bullets to hit - hardly a reaction tester at all!

The graphics are also quite disappointing. The Bond sprite itself is truly excellent, but some of the backdrops are garishly coloured. What's more, I doubt that Bond would be half as popular with the ladies if he looked anything like his representation on the title screen.

Although the action is quite a good laugh once you get into it, you have to realise that there are only four levels. The Megadrive has many excellent platform games available for it, including (as Gus likes to point out), the brilliant Alien 3 - which is much like this, but much bigger and a lot more fun to play.

Early on, I detected a similarity between the gameplay here and that of Probe Alien 3. Substitute girls for prisoners, guards for aliens and you get the general idea. Even the music is reminiscent, it must be a coincidence of course. Sadly though, this is an inferior Alien 3. The graphics are not so much bad as erratic in quality and colouring. The animation on Bond is okay, and the backdrops are fine, but on the whole the effect is bland. The sound is well done.

Where the game fails is in the control of Bond himself. Fast responsiveness is essential to games of this type, but too often I found 007 too slow on ladders or jumping out of doorways. Ironically, it's the extra animation on the main sprite that seems to slow his reactions.

In its favour, I have to say the game still retains a high level of challenge. But there isn't as much pace, nor half as many levels as there are in Alien 3. If this dogged comparison of mine seems unfair, playing both games reveals the closeness of game type. James Bond isn't bad. It's just not nearly as good as the best games of its type.

Presentation 78%
P. Joypad changes, sound test and the amazing figure-eight alphabet bar!
N. The fact that there are non continues is a bit of a bummer.

Graphics 73%
P. A variety of interesting graphic zones, and good Bond animation.
N. Garish colouring in places (the yacht!) and crap 'shadow' guards.

Sound 82%
P. A funkoid Bond theme and various topper tunes and effects.

Playability 73%
P. A familiar gamestyle returns, climbing and shooting.
N. Frustrating control problems lead to exasperation.

Lastability 64%
P. The game is very challenging indeed.
N. Nothing sparkles early on and it's quite frustrating, so you might not feel compelled to continue.

Overall 66%
An average game that should go do well with the Bond fans. The rest of us will live without it.