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Better late than never, eh? It was only about fifteen years ago that the movie came out and Domark have snapped up the licence.

Live and Let Die actually began life as Aquablaster by Elite and it hasn't actually undergone a huge facelift since we saw it a couple of months ago. Still such is the way of the lumbering monster that is the software industry. It's actually a reasonably enjoyable escapade. Very seen-it-before 3D blow-up the enemy while racing around, but it's perfectly competently put together.

If you can remember the movie, I'm sure that the boat chase sequence will have lodged itself in your memory. Pretty good job really, since the whole game revolves around this scene. Actually, I confess to being a teensy bit confused, since you race your boat and chase bad guys all over the world, from New Orleans (as in the movie) to the frozen wastes of somewhere or other, and even across the Sahara desert (yeah, I know). Personally I'd rather have had a bit more variety, maybe even a car chase on the same format would have been better.

As you race along the waterways, numerous hazards will appear in your path. There are mines which are dropped by enemy jet boats and logs and ice floes and gun implacements on the banks. All of these can be dealt with in a particular way. Some can be vaulted, others simply shot to bits.

The biggest worry, other than dodging the mines, is keeping your fuel level up. By running over the fuel canisters dropped by helicopters it can be boosted. As a result there's a lot more swerving around to be done than it first appears. You really do need to pick up virtually every can if you're going to get through to the end.

Graphically we're not talking major sophistication. The objects don't really move at a particularly impressive speed, either, but you do get a reasonable feeling of being charge of a boat that's slightly too powerful for it's own good. I could never quite manage to steer myself out of trouble - I was just going too fast (impetuosity of youth, eh? - GT)

The bad guys in boats don't really prove to be too much of a problem. Indeed, they keep a pretty low profile throughout most of the game. Personally I found the land-mounted gun installations to be far more deadly; almost impossible to shoot from the water, they'd sling out a grenade at me just as I was passing.

Don't be fooled into thinking that Live and Let Die is in any way a half way realistic representation of the film. It just isn't. It is a pretty reasonable bash, however, and should keep you going for a couple of hours while you're waiting for your copy of Operation Wolf to make it to the shops.

Reasonable though largely non-earth shattering game with tres-flimsy tie in. Fair.