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Ian Osborne is the master of time - the way he sprints for the door at 5:30pm has to be seen to be believed! Makes him a dead ringer for Millenium Warriors, methinks...

Prince Kronos, first-born son of the Great Galactic Emperor Iridon I, has come of age. According to ancient Iridani law he must undergo a test of courage and skill, overcoming earth warriors in five different aeons.

These comprise three beat-'em-up levels and two blasters, each played on a single static screen. The beat-'em-ups are very two-dimensional, allowing only simple left-right movement. To get past your enemy you must crouch, jump or climb, depending on which time zone you're in. The shoot-'em-up duels take place in the air, allowing fuel-screen movement with wraparound.

Each puglist has three statistics, displayed via a bar system. Energy decreases each time you throw a blow. Health is your 'life' rating, and Weapon is a measure of how much punishment your trusty tool has taken. If your energy or health bar reaches zero, it's game over, but a knackered weapon soon reappears - you just have to take half a dozen blows while retrieving it! Power-ups replenish energy and health. The icons change from level to level, but the effect remains the same.

Millenium Warriors is brilliantly presented. The animation is full of great touches: for example, a victorious knight removes his helmet and bows to his stricken foe, and the pirate takes a swig from his hip flask. Unfortunately, the graphics are the most varied thing in the game - each beat-'em-up level plays almost exactly the same as the one before. The two shoot-'em-up levels are also irritatingly similar.

Alas, this isn't the only fault - far from it. The controls are very difficult to master, especially on Level 5 where exaggerated momentum makes the sprites virtually uncontrollable. Even when you've got the hang of it, there's precious little skill involved - you stand toe-to-toe and hit each other! Also, the extra energy and health power-ups appear with alarming regularity, making fights ridiculously long. As soon as you've battered your opponent into near-submission, a power-up appears (which the computer-controlled player appears to anticipate) and you're back to square one!

Like most below par beat-'em-ups, Millenium Warriors is better in two-player mode, but this isn't enough to save it. Shallow, samey gameplay ruins what should've been a really rad game. 51%

On first loading Millenium Warriors, I was strongly reminded of the old Palace classic Barbarian. Graphically the game is top-notch, the character sprites are large and nicely detailed while movement is fluid and looks very believable.

Game content is very close to my heart: bash your opponent's brains out in the shortest possible time. The pain in the proverbial ass that hampers an otherwise good idea is 'Mr Gameplay'. I've played Millenium Warriors umpteen times and have yet to beat the Captain Caveman lookalike when controlled by the computer. However, in two-player mode the game really comes into its own: you can beat yet mates up and still take 'em for a pint afterwards! 69%

Presentation 87%
Excellent and well thought out presentation.

Graphics 80%
Exciting backdrops, wild animation make this a ripper!

Sound 76%
A pleasing little ditty that could even be Chesney!

Hookability 60%
Too many power-ups makes fights last too long.

Lastability 51%
Too little there to hold your attention for long.

Overall 60%