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This review carries both bad news and good. The bad news is that, after the age of seven, it's no longer cool to play "Cops 'N Robbers". Of course, old habits are hard to break and here's where the good news sidles in, nervously and with its hands behind its head. Konami, being very much in tune with the nation's desire to play Cops 'N Robbers till we drop, have coin-ops entitled Lethal Enforcers posted in arcades across the country. The game features all the bad-guy blasting action any Dirty Harry wannabe could wish for, presented as digitised images of a big city's low-life with player holstering imitation guns with which to pop the hoods. The best news of all is that it is now also available for the Megadrive - guns and all!

The all-American city cop wouldn't be seen dead without a gun for protection. Actually, they probably would. In all truth, without their standard-isue pieces, an office of the law is naked and quite vulnerable. Mercifully, the Lethal Enforcers package comes rigged with a gun so players are not required to pretend with their joypads. An extra gun, for use in two-player games, is also on offer from Konami for a whopping £13.

Use of the guns heightens the tension somewhat as the emphasis is placed even more on a steady aim and lightning-quick reactions!

Play begins with only a service revolver as the players' protection. Other fire-arms are obtained by aiming at the gun-shaped icons that occasionally decorate the scenery. The upgrades afford the player rapid-fire capabilities, as is the case with the Uzi and automatic, and immense power provided by the shot-gun and SLR rifle.

Such upgrades remain in the players' possession until their representative cop is injured.

It's easy to get trigger-happy when ventilating the city's scum, but it's essential that players remain in control at all times. Rookie officers are prone to standing in the line of fire, and clumsy cops are deservedly penalised for any such fatalities. Likewise, hostages and passers-by don't take too kindly to bullets and tend to die horribly when shot.

Unfortunately, the word 'oops' doesn't wash with the commissioner when facing evaluation. Any federal or civilian casualties sustained in any given assignment results in having to undertake the same job again!

Shoot all the crooks, avoid putting holes in innocent bystanders.

Easy. Just point the gun and shoot! In joypad mode, a sight appears on-screen. Move it around to aim and use a fire button to shoot off.

A - Fires the gun, B - Has no function, C - Reloads the fun, S - Starts and freezes the action

Despite the very basic gameplay present in Lethal Enforcers, it's a really fun game! Whether it's so much fun as to warrant a £65 price tag is another matter entirely.

Still, the extra cash pays for a gun which serves to enhance the gameplay a great deal, leaving little to separate this conversion from the original coin-op. After all, since when do LA cops go patrolling with a Megadrive joypad in their hands!

It's also good to see the game accommodates for the differences between one- and two-player games, with twice the hoods sticking their neck out when partners hit the streets together.

An emphasis on accuracy and gun control adds to the appeal and makes up for the simple 'shoot-to-kill' philosophy - the chance of maiming innocents plays havoc with the nerves! However, success is all down to pattern learning in the end. Though reactions are tested to the limit, victory is well within anybody's reach and there are no surprises once all the missions are complete.

Still, this is quite a departure from the norm and is far better than any of the menacer titles available.

Gun freaks could certainly do a lot worse, and this conversion couldn't have been much better. Worth a look.

This is an excellent conversion of the arcade game. It's quite amazing to see images digitised from real people on the Megadrive although it's a bit gruesome when you realise you're shooting real people!

It's fairly challenging and I loved the practie mode where you blast hell out of a series of targets in a shooting range sort of scenario. On the down side though, I think the game could have been improved in a number of ways. For example, you shoot be awarded more points if you shoot someone in the head or heart - these guys rop dead if you shoot them in the foot for chrissakes!

A few bonus or hidden levels would have added substantially to the enjoyment value too. As it stands, Lethal Enforcers provides a reasonable amount of fun, but it's not going to take too long to complete, and the lightguns are pretty redundant unless other games makes use of them in the future. Certainly not worth £65.00.

Presentation 87%
P. The standard of this conversion's presentation compares well with that of the coin-op original. There is an extensive collection of options to choose from.

Graphics 88%
P. Every image seen is digitised from real-life people and scenes. This serves for some dramatic situations.
N. The animation isn't great. Digitisation is pretty rough.

Sound 90%
P. Excellent groovesome tunes are backed by mega renditions of gun-fire and the humorous banter of both the goodies and baddies.

Playability 79%
P. The plastic revolver provided makes for some fun action...
N. ...which, unfortunately, remains the same throughout.

Lastability 83%
P. It's a challenging game, there's no doubt about that.
N. Though there are only five stages and no secrets.

Overall 74%
A great conversion of a fun arcade game. It's too high a price to pay, though, for such basic gameplay.