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Oh, dear. Another war. Far away, in another galaxy, in another time, two races are locked in combat. On the planet Bacula the Galden tribe, having overthrown the government and seized power over the whole world, want more.

Their chosen target is the small, peaceful planet of Mu. The Mu-ans (for it is they) start to get a bit worried at hearing the news, and immediately leap into action.

Dusting down their ancient laboratories, they install their best scientists to come up with an effective deterrent to the alien threat. After many long months working around the clock, they finally came up with a solution.

And this is some solution: a vehicle of immense firepower, with the ability to leap into the air to avoid ground hazards. More amazingly, it can also transform itself into an airborne vessel specially designed to eliminate any kind of enemy in the sky.

Armed to the teeth with such an awesome piece of hardware, what better place to try it out than in the heat of a bloody good battle? And what luck! The Galdens have decided that today is the day of the attack!

Off you go then, blasting your way through progressively more difficult levels, alternating between ground vehicle and fighter plane every other stage. By the way - watch out for the holes in the ground. Fall through one and, fancy machine or no fancy machine, you've had it mate.

Just casually scattered about the place, you'll find power-up pods, which you must shoot to release extra weaponry and increase your firepower. And boy, will you need it when you get to the biggy end of level nasty. Just think of the horriblest, slimiest, ugliest monster you can possibly imagine - this one's even worse (well it seems like it when you're face-to-face anyway).

OK, let's cut the crap! Just get fuelled up, kiss mom goodbye and go kick some ass! This could well be your last duel, you know. (Clever, eh?)

Is this another earth-shattering addition to your already bulging collection of shoot-'em-ups?

Nope. The action just plods along, and there isn't always all that much of it. Every now and then there are huge gaps without any enemies - which is when you start to look at the blocky graphics and notice the unimaginative in-game sound.

Still, the title tune's not bad, the backgrounds are pretty colourful and as long as you're not too fussy about fancy frills or presentation, you could get a fair bit of fun out of this. Just don't expect too much.

OK, so there's nothing outstanding about Last Duel but it is a pretty fast, tough-action shoot-'em-up that's a lot of fun to play for a while.

The animation and scrolling aren't all that hot (you can't really tell the difference between the car and the plane!) but the backgrounds are colourful and the gameplay's all there - and that's what counts, isn't it?

If you're a bit of a shoot-'em-up snob, this might not be quite up to your standards; as for everyone else, try it and see what you think. You never know, you might forget all about the graphics and actually end up enjoying yourself!

Presentation 57%
High score table and swirling starfield on the title screen. Spongy controls during play.

Graphics 62%
Bright and colourful backdrops. Blocky sprites with average animation.

Sound 60%
Basic sound effects and a funky title ditty.

Hookability 78%
Who'd turn down the chance of a good blast?

Lastability 68%
Lack of variety might hamper long-term interest.

Overall 72%
An unexceptionally presented, but still pretty playable, blast.