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During a long space journey in your wheel-shaped craft, you hit an anomaly in the space-time continuum which threw you into the mythical Netherworld.

The inhabitants are a strange race of mysterious creatures, ranging from small, spinning cubes to bubble-spitting dragons. Initially terrified and confused by these strange apparitions, you fled deep into the heart of the realm until you found a relatively quiet piece of space. After regaining your breath, you resigned yourself to the fact that you must fight your way back through the difficult areas you have witnessed before you can hope to escape back to real space.

Due to the supernatural properties of the universe you now occupy, the only way to leave a particular zone is to collect and process enough diamond-shaped crystals. Your on-board computer tells you how many crystals you need to find before escaping through a circular teleport. If you use a teleport before collecting the requisite number of gems, you will be moved to another area of the zone.

On escaping a zone, you get the chance to pit your wits against one of the Netherworld puzzles, in which you must move rocks to deflect a spark into a 'magic block' which will turn into crystals.

Additional items may be picked up in the twelve zones to aid you in your escape, such as shields, wall-breakers and dragon killers.

When Netherworld arrived in the office earlier this week I was chomping on a bacon butty and feeling down, but aye, man, did this great release cheer up yours truly or wot?

I loved the C64 version when that emerged, but Hewson have used the Amiga's capabilities well and have produced a neat little shoot and collect game. The graphics capacity has been utilised effectively, creating an eerie atmosphere that has you spellbound as you fly around death mask skulls and impressive-looking dragons.

The only real drawback in it was the lack of sound. Who wants a gorgeous-looking game but over average sound when we all know that the Amiga sound chip's power is good enough to get even Maff dribbling [Ooo! Err!! - Kati]. But don't let that put you off; Netherworld is a game to look out for.

The C64 version of Netherworld arrived just after the disappointing Marauder affair in Hewson's history, managing to redeem the company's name with a strange but enjoyable blasting game.

Now, I'm often described by certain large editors (no names) as "an Amiga snob" so I was pleased to see the 16-bit version of Netherworld appear. So, what's it like? Well, I can relax now... It's very good! The graphics use some very nice shading techniques to give a feeling of 'infinite' space behind the scenery, and the scrolling is very smooth indeed.

The gameplay is every bit as good as the C64 version and I can see myself playing it for a good while into the future. The only thing that I'm slightly disappointed in is the sound. Where's the thunderous guitar samples that were heard on the C64? I mean, the Amiga can do this kind of thing a lot better.

Presentation 86%
Nice status panel, impressive name-entering system and generally well thought out appearance.

Graphics 91%
Well drawn levels and nasties with good use of colour and smooth, fast scrolling.

Sound 81%
Good clangs, crashes and bangs in the game itself, but the title music is rather disappointing.

Hookability 82%
The ship's momentum seems a bit severe at first, but the gratuitous blasting action is rather satisfying.

Lastability 84%
Twelve progressively harder levels should keep ardent blastabout fans happy for a few weeks.

Overall 83%
A strange collect and shoot-'em-up game which will appeal to those who give it a chance.