Well, it's here at last! Green Beret slips almost unseen into the world, packaged in a 'greatest hits' compilation, and keeping excellent company with Mikie, Yie Ar Kung-Fu and Hyper Sports.

The other three programs we've looked at before - Mikie is a bit of nonsense (converted by Peter Johnson) in which the school hero has to collect hearts in order to read a message from his girlfriend; Yie Ar Kung Fu (converted by Peter Johnson) is many people's favourite kung fu game (although mine is Way Of The Exploding Fist); and Hyper Sports (What? No Peter Johnson?) is an excellent sports simulation, offering a good selection of swimming, shooting, vaulting, archery, jumping and weight lifting.

All are welcome reappearances on this collection. But what, you'll want to know, is Green Beret really like? Well, I must admit it's a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps it's the incredible build-up it's received but I think the conversion by newcomer John Mackay doesn't quite capture the spirit of the game.

That's not to say that he hasn't done a good job - the graphics are reasonably accurate compared to the arcade version and a lot of fun to play. However, for some reason best known to himself, he's decided to speed the game up quite a bit and, in consequence, it's hard to get into the game. The enemy soldiers come thick and fast and it took quite a few attempts to stay on the first screen long enough to have a good look at the game.

For anybody who has never seen it, the game is simple. As a lone soldier you must infiltrate four enemy installations, killing soldiers with your knife and (hopefully) other weapons you'll gain, leap up and down ladders and platforms, dodge missiles and generally behave in a fairly unsocial manner.

Perhaps I'm just jaded but, despite being awarded Game Of The Month, I can't help feeling that this collection has the feel of yesterday, and is already out of date! All the games are very playable and you should get a lot of amusement from them but, somehow, we've seen all this before.

Still, I know you won't take my word for it. This game has been awaited for so long that sales were bound to be good unless Green Beret proved to be a real stinker. Thankfully, it's not and my overwhelming feeling is one of relief.

Still Mackay looks like being a name to watch for, and I'm already in close contact with him to get the lowdown on future plans and so on.

We might even get round to that comparison of Greet Beret, Commando and Who Dares Wins II that was promised a good few issues back. If only I could get the smell of cordite out of the room...