The Last Warlock is once again haunting helpless Japanese villagers, and only Tsukikage, the spirit of the white wolf, can save them. However, wielding a samurai sword with a pair of paws ain't easy so our hero has taken human form to be the ultimate ninja is this fiendishly difficult coin-op conversion.

To defeat the Warlock Tsukikage - or Tsk, for short - must fight through six lands, starting in a decaying temple packed with baddies. Besides the sword-slashing ninjas running at you, there's sneaky baddies crawling under the floorboards poking pikes at you, and ninjas on the walls who throw poisonous knives down at you. At the end of the level there's the obligatory superbaddie; in this case, a Buddha statue with lethal fireworks exploding from his hands.

After this it's off to the woods for yet more ninjas who are now joined by ghostly fireballs, vicious white wolves leaping from the sides of mountains and a huge flying end-of-level monster. The swamps are even worse, with huge swordmen and eagle-eyed riflemen. Then there's a massive warehouse with a trapdoor to take you into an underground confrontation with yet more of the Warlock's minions. Even more demanding is the vertical cliff-face where you must leap from ledge to ledge, dodging ninjas all the way. But worst of all are the caves, where old men leap to attack with twirling sticks.

Tsk has more than his sword to defend himself with though; pressing 'space' gives him ninja deathstars to hurl, dynamite and lassoon blades on a chain. What's more yellow-robed baddies drop crystals which can produce a clone Tsk to follow his every step, flames to circle around him, an energy field to massively improve the sword and lots more besides. Unlike the C64 version, the computer will even flash the weapon it thinks you should use for which section.

This is an excellent ST game, with a good scroll, loads of leaping sprites and an unusual palette. On the Amiga, the colour scheme isn't quite so impressive - I was disappointed the colours weren't darker and richer - although the amount of detail is still impressive.

Apart from a poor level two, the levels generally get better with plenty of variety and imagination. Sound is even better, with good use made of the Amiga to provide atmospheric music for each level - pity there aren't any sound effects though.

Actual gameplay is terrifically hard, at least to start with, much harder than the C64 which is very frustrating when level one has to be reloaded every time you lose all your lives. However, persistence is rewarding - you have to think about this one more than the C64 where you can simply run past some problems. It's also fun where you walk on the ceilings!

The original coin-op is one of the toughest around and Images Design have kept the conversion faithful, which is not good news for novices. The lack of continue-players makes it a harsh game; level one is horrendous and, while level two is easier, it soon gets back to nightmare difficulty.

Nevertheless, after initially dismissing it as way too hard, I was drawn back to the game. The tactics are completely different from the super-fast C64 game: on the Amiga the sword is particularly effective - even deflecting some of the weapons which are hurled at you.

Without doubt this is an enjoyable game, which really makes you sweat blood in a satisfying sort of way. On the debit side, the graphics are a bit pale and it's £5 too expensive, but the sound is great with some really strong music. Well worth getting - as long as you haven't got a foot-through-the-TV sort of temper!

Presentation 60% Extremely irritating reloading of level one when you die there, no continue-plays.

Graphics 71% Pale ST palette, but some good detail and animation.

Sound 80% Different tune for each level, thankfully makes good use of Amiga, no sound FX though.

Hookability 81% Strangely addictive, even despite its toughness...

Lastability 79% ...a fairly big challenge, but might become too daunting restarting from level one all the time.

Overall 80% A vicious, but addictive, slash-'em-up.