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Muddy Hell, this is one hot LZ! You're in a chopper that's flying into the kind of firestorm usually reserved for kamikaze pilots and Iranian airliners.

"Heli's teeth," is your first reaction after loading, as the ultra twee theme tune starts to drill into your subconscious the way only game jingles can. Because of the title and music, you're expecting Skweek in airborne form, when what should load up but the best strategy shoot-'em-up seen this year, with all manner of ships, ghosts and gun emplacements putting up flak while you divide, conquer and kill! Cute I can tolerate, violent I love!

You are Mr. Heli, and you've got to save the planet. None of this negotiations malarkey - though, we are talking high-level, heavy-duty, Armageddon.

The evil scientist known only as 'the Muddy' has taken over six levels of an 'Earth type' world and is hiding underground. He's unbalanced the forces of nature and must be stopped, but the only thing he'll listen to is the sound of your guns. Ready...? Mr. Heli was born ready!

With the jolly little jingle playing in the background, it's time to dust off as you fly through a cave looking for a helipad to take you to the next level. In your way are millions of the Muddy's henchmen. Mostly they swarm at you in small shuttles or blast away from gun emplacements, although there are some heavies you can find if you really look.

To fight off these waves of nasties you've a small front-firing gun and a rocket launcher in the roof to shoot things overhead. When you've landed the rocket launcher starts hurling bombs forward. The actual numbers of enemies and shots on screen are daunting, yet the game never suffers slow down due to chip overload. The sprites react fast and accurately, giving you the precision needed to even contemplate the chance of survival in such an overtly hostile world.

Your standard firepower is nowhere near good enough for the serious battle chopper about town, though. Hidden in the walls are crystals which you can collect to give you purchasing power at the various special weapons squares throughout the complex. Collect the cash, stop and shop, and soon even the most die-hard Muddy fan will be rocking to your tune.

As you scroll around the one way landscape, there is a danger you can't ignore - the border. You can't retrace your steps, so if by some miscalculation you find the scenery scrolling down while you're moving up, the result is an explosive crush. This stops you getting too tooled up and makes the shooting harder in places like the floating boulders section. The Muddy's influence over nature has caused these rocks to take off, blocking your path and threatening to squeeze you at the top of the screen, so you've just got to blast them out of sight! What a shame!

This cutesy treatment of future warfare is taken to farcical extremes by the graphics, which are bright, colourful and highly amusing. The thundering of exploding Muddies rattles the speaker system, temporarily blotting out the (annoying) tune. Despite this continual destruction, though, the game doesn't centre on the enjoyment of killing but the speed of movement and the quickness of reactions - although a bit of gratuitous blasting is good for your system, if not theirs!

If you want heavy duty action and close, accurate infighting, Mr. Heli can stand and blast with the best. It doesn't get the adrenaline flowing the same way as an R-Type because your character is so superior to those he fights - but it's a damned close run thing.

Remember what General Sherman once said -"War is Heli!".

Trenton hasn't done Mr. Heli justice. The animations are excellent, especially the way Heli waddles along when on the ground. A classic shoot-'em-up with massive firepower and one I'll certainly play for a long time to come.

80,000 points.

The flight path is clear.

Graphics 89%
P. Cute but strong sprites.
P. Bright and imaginative use of colours.

Sonics 74%
P. Irritatingly memorable theme tune.

Grab Factor 82%
P. Simple to play, first time around.
P. Gets hard very quickly.

Staying Power 65%
P. Six levels of pure explosive fun.
N. Maybe a touch too easy.

Overall 81%
P. A brilliant, original game.
P. A helicopter game that avoids Vietnam - awesome!