Max isn't mad but it certainly has a rich flavour, kicking off with the incredible Turrican II. Manfred Trenz's sequel surpassed even the ground-breaking original, with some of the most stunning graphics ever seen on the C64. Most impressive are the huge superbaddies: several screens high, beautifully detailed, and yet moving around so smoothly and quickly you'd swear your C64 had an Amiga-style Blitter chip. It's not only the huge setpieces which impress, however. All the graphics exhibit a slickness more commonly associated with arcade machines, while the varied soundtrack is an aural delight, varying - to suit the action - from subtle, atmospheric pieces to pounding rock themes.

But it's not only this undoubted technical brilliance that makes the game great; the action is superbly designed with the main Turrican character armed to the teeth. His multi-purpose ray gun (whose firepower can be enhanced by collecting power-ups) doubles as a laser sword which Turrican can swirl around himself. In addition, he can turn into a gyroscope to roll along the floor, lay mines in this form or even activate the super smart bomb to create total mayhem on the screen. Not only do the arcade adventure levels pack plenty of variety with countless types of enemy, there's even a horizontally shoot-'em-up world (comprising three levels) with Turrican at the controls of a spaceship, plus a vertically scrolling jetpack section. Turrican II's got the lot!

As a straightforward vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up, Swiv can't boast that sort of variety, but it's still a highly enjoyable blast. It's *not* the official sequel to Silkworm, yet it features one or two players controling jeep and helicopter. Each vehicle has its pros and cons; the jeep can simultaneously fire and move in different directions but, unlike the forward-firing helicopter flying above, has to negotiate ground obstacles and cross bridges. Of course, there's the usual weapon upgrades to collect and countless enemy tanks, ground installations and aircraft to really test your reactions. It's not the most original of games, but it's all slickly done and vary playable.

Night Shift, on the other hand, is a completely unique concept. As Fred or Fiona Fixit, you're in charge of a toy production line: known as the Beast this consists of about eight vertically scrolling screens. You must jump and climb around it, making sure each bit is working properly so that the toys (Star Wars and other Lucasfilm characters) come out in perfect condition at the bottom.

A bike must be pedalled to generate power, a Bunsen burner lit to heat the plastic, and conveyor belts switched in the correct direcction and synchronised so that the toy's head is put on top of its body. Later levels get even more chaotic with the addition of extra duties such as paint mixing and spraying, moulding, quality control, packing, and more than one type of toy to make. It's so easy for something to go wrong, with hilarious results such as Luke Skywalker heads on Darth Vader bodies! Frustration is avoided by a fruit combination passcode or each of the thirty levels, while gameplay is both fascinating and highly amusing.

Without doubt the weakest of the compilation's four titles, St Dragon is a conversion of a rather lacklustre Jaleco coin-op. A pretty straightforward horizontally scrolling blaster the only novelty is that you control a snake-like 'dragon' with a protective tail to curl around yourself. Collect extra firepower and it becomes even easier to slaughter the enemies, and it shouldn't take you long to complete. It's okay filler material, but on the dull side with an annoying glitch that occasionally kills you for apparently no reason!

None of these games have previously appeared on compilation or budget - incredibly, they're all under nine months old.

With the inclusion of the classic Turrican II and two other very good titles, you certainly get max value for money.