Each Menacer game has a different objective. Most require targeting objects with the on-screen sight and firing the trigger to destroy them.

Frustrated Arnies or keen clay pigeon enthusiasts who also own Megadrives have been rather under-served until now. The Megadrive lacked a gun peripheral while its main competitor, the Super NES has touted its bazooka add-on, the 'Super Scope', for some months now.

This has all changed with Sega's new Menacer attachment. The unit is supplied with a six game cartridge, which use the on-screen targeting and sights in a variety of ways. The hardware is packaged in subtle shades of grey quite unsuited to the Megadrive's glossy black looks. But enough of aesthetics. Enter the Menacer shooting gallery and have a look at the package.

The Menacer can be used in three different forms, to suit the game or your own preference of play. Each part is detachable. The barest form is a handheld pistol, with built-in sight on top. Add a shoulder rest to this to turn it into a kind of rifle. The final part consists of a binocular sight, which means the gun is fired like a telescopic-sighted rifle (sort of). The Megadrive takes account of the mode of play.

Accu Sight On/Off: Select whether an on-screen cursor is displayed.

Binocular On/Off: Advises the Megadrive on whether you have the Binocular sight attached.

Select Game: Chooses which of the six Menacer games will be played.

Before you play, the Megadrive runs a quick test to see if the Menacer is functioning properly. The screen has to be quite light, and a minimum distance from the screen of about three feet has to be maintained. Accuracy may be improved by adjusting the Menacer's sensitivity by way of a sight displayed on screen. You have to hit the bull to continue.

Okay, you've admired (or scratched your head at) the hardware, now let's turn to the important part - the games. Here's an account of the action contained in each of the six Menacer games.

This game is played on a single screen - and in the dark! Using the function buttons you get a picture of a kitchen table, with a neat cloth and a juicy pizza plumped in the middle. You play with the lights off, with only a small circle of light around your sights shown.

Each level's an onslaught of horrible creepy crawlies intent on eating your pizza. They scuttle from all sides of the screen, nibbling as much as they can until blown to pieces by you.

The attack comes in waves, each having even bigger and hungrier vermin until the whole pizza is gone - and the game is over.

This is a scrolling shoot-'em-up, but with some very familiar characters involved. Basically, this is Toe Jam and Earl II, where the twosome have a load of rotten tomatoes to throw about.

Old enemies like the Mad Doctor, the Cupids, the Mortar firing chickens and the horrific BogeyMan are all here, and the backgrounds (now pseudo-3D) are very close to the original.

There's an added challenge in the limited ammo, and the accuracy meter that tracks your skill percentage. And the baddies fire back! Lose all your energy and it's curtains.

The action moves to a desert battlefield for the only military theme game on the Menacer cart. Your gun is the only weapon against a massive armoured invasion force, who seem a bit disorganised (they're all going in different directions). As they travel across the screen, you use your sight to target and destroy them.

Some tanks are closer than others, but yield less points. Occasionally some turn and fire, reducing some of your energy bar. The A button controls a limited supply of anti-tank/anti-aircraft missiles which destroy your enemies in a single blast.

The game continues in waves until you're smithereens (mixed with sound).

Breathless from your other pursuits, you now try Whack Ball, which is best described as a Breakout clone using the Menacer.

Against a psychedelic backdrop, a wall encircles the screen, inside which a small ball bounces. The Menacer appears as a larger, darker ball, and the small ball bounces off it. The object is to change the wall's colour from blue to magenta by striking each brick once with the ball.

The time limit for each level's strict, and on later sheets, gaps appear that mean instant death. For help and hindrance, there are bonus squares that flash. If struct they complete the level immediately, or undo all your work!

The Menacer goes conventional with its final game, which resembles old arcade faves like Chicago 1931 and Hogan's Alley, being a gangster shoot-out. Each level scrolls across a series of seedy apartment blocks, with lots of unlit, shaded windows.

Suddenly a light appears and someone comes to the window. You have a split second to decide if it's an armed hoodlum, or an innocent moll. The letters S-H-O-O-T are there to offer subtle guidance. You have five lives, lost for being too slow, or shooting the wrong targets. Score breakdowns are given at the end of each level.

It's off beyond the stars for the next thrill-packed Menacer experience. You're defending a moon base, with alien hordes materialising in their Acme space pods in front of your eyes.

You must wait until the doors open to shoot the reptilian troopers. You have a very limited energy supply, depleted by each shot you make. This must be replaced by moving the crosshairs to the power bar at the base of the screen.

As each level progresses more pods land at the same time. A spaceship occasionally passes overhead. Shoot it for a shield which protects you from one alien blast.

The great light fun battle commences. Big deal. The Super Scope was judged to be fairly naff, and it seems (contrary to hype) that Sega hasn't learned the lessons. They've released a samey-looking, samey-playing piece of hardware, with some redundant add-ons.

Most importantly, they've released a similarly bland set of launch games, with no real focus, and little lasting interest. On the hardware side, the Menacer is only useful as a pistol, or marginally useful with the shoulder rest.

The binocular piece is merely obstructive. To be fair, the infra-red system works well, and the accuracy is impressive and reliable. It's a lot less tiring to use than the Super Scope, which is a plus point. Gameswise, there's a lot to grumble about.

Space Station Defender and Front Line are simplistic beyond belief, and are only good for a couple of plays. Of the others Rockman's Zone seemed to have the most attention, but Pest Control and Whack Ball transcend their meagre boundaries to be quite fun.

Some people like the Toe Jam game because it looks the best. But they are all limited, and all too easy. Depending on your viewpoint you might see it as six freebie games with a Menacer.

For the price, I see it as a hardware package let down at the software end. What is needed is a good game on its own. Not a naff compilation.

Throughout the history of gaming, light guns have come and gone, and I don't see the Menacer making any more of an impact than its predecessors. The problem is threefold: light guns are always too expensive, they have a high novelty value which wears off quickly and there's never enough decent games available for them.

Okay, so the Menacer might look neat and its component pieces slot together into different shapes, but nevertheless it gets dull very quickly. The six-game cartridge is fun for a while but all the games are far too simple to sustain interest for long. And then what?

Terminator II: The Arcade Game? Yes, it's a great game, but after that there's nothing else to buy. I'd recommend you wait and see what happens to the software base before rushing out and parting with £60 for this.

Presentation 85%
P. You get a really big cardboard box, with all attachments and instructions. In-game there's a choice of sights.
N. Other in-game options relating to skill levels are non-existent.

Graphics 55%
P. Six different games means six different styles. High points include Tomatoes.
N. the low points descend quite far, with poor sprites and backdrops - Front Line, Pest Control.

Sound 58%
P. The Toe Jam section uses the original soundtrack. Lots of other FX.
N. Overall the sound is mediocre, and certainly doesn't stand out as anything of quality.

Playability 65%
P. The new control gives a completely different feel, and there's a strong initial addiction.
N. The simplicity of each section negates any challenge the gun itself provides.

Lastability 54%
Six games to master sounds a lot of playing, but in truth most are quite derivative, and the plainness of the others means the Menacer palls quite quickly.

Overall 60%
A nice piece of kit it may be, but until there are a variety of decent titles to use with it, the Menacer is just an expensive novelty.