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Current 32X software is like water in Yorkshire - what little there is comes out in dribbles. And it's not very hot either. But fear not, all you anguished mushroom owners, as there are some games on the horizon that should break the pocket of dust over the cartridge slot and get a little playtime.

Technology these days is obviously increasing at such a frightening rate that the games programmers have decided we could all do with a jaunt back to the prehistoric times for a bit of dino mayhem. The Primal Rage arcade game was popular with most who played it, and some lievd and died by it. So it was only a matter of time before the neighbours of Freddy Flintstone came and invaded our very own homes. For those of you that have lost the plot or have been trapped in a space-time continuum for the last year or so, the aim is to simply beat up a batch of big-toothed, long-tailed, horn-bearing, overgrown lizards in a quest to become the king of the beasts.

The whole game is set around the type of scenery that you may expect to find circa 1 Million BC, give or take a few years.

The Primal games are doing the rounds on all of the consoles at the moment. Next stop, 32X.

Do you really need to be told? Chomp up the other dinosaurs, etc, etc.

The special moves for each character can be a little tricky to say the least. So for all your lazy gets, the opportunity is there to fiddle around with the controls to bring the numerous button presses to a halt. By changing the configuration so that the extras (Z and C), read Special 1, 2 or 3, special attacks can be executed at the touch of a single button.

Not only does it save you a bit of time, it means that your unsuspecting opponent, if you happen to be playing in versus mode, won't see you are trying to execute a moev and will be completely taken by surprise. Lovely.

I don't know, these fickle humans. As you are playing, no doubt you'll be aware of the people walking about in the background. Not only do they serve as a way to enter one of the bonus games, but they can also aid you in your quest.

Each of the dinos has a group of followers, with their own particular tribal colours, and remarkably change their allegiance as soon as you manage to beat their designated lizard. The further you get into the game, the more worshippers you get.

But it's during the game that these can become the most use. You can actually eat the humans as they come forward to the playing area, to replenish flagging energy bars.

I have mixed views about this game. Half of me thinks that it isn't too bad, but the other half of me thinks "Where's that copy of Virtua Fighter?" It's not that it is a particularly bad game, it's just that it seems a little dated compared to some of the other games now on the market.

And it seems to be virtually identical to the Megadrive version. The gameplay is what will draw most people, and again, eevn though it's not brilliant, it's good enough and different enough to warrant a look. Playing with dinosaurs is still a good idea for a one-on-one fighting game, and this handles it well.

But overall, it is a middle-of-the-road beat-'em-up. Not great but good enough to be a possible alternative to Virtua Fighter.

In the months since I first fiddled with the Game Gear and Megadrive versions of Primal Rage, the novelty of a dinosaur beat-'em-up has well and truly worn off. It seems the great gamesbuying public feel similarly unimpressed, with sales of the game falling some way short of Time-Warner's expectations.

So what of this latest version? Well, although it doesn't seem radically overhauled from the Megadrive game, this is as good a version of Primal Rage as you're currently going to get on a Sega system. Relatievly, the version of Primal Rage that makes the most of its format is still the Game Gear one, but this won't go amiss on the shelf of any 32X-owning beat-'em-up fans.

This just seems very ordinary in retrospect, and in my opinion comes nowhere near to toppling the mighty Virtua Fighter in the 32X Premier League.

Graphics 82%
P. Relatively detailed backgrounds. N. Not a sufficient improvement on the 16-bit versions.

Animation 75%
N. Still not that many frames result in some blocky movements.

Music 76%
P. Suitable bongo and drum-type music associated with cave people.

Effects 80%
P. Good speech and roars.

Playability 81%
P. A competent beat-'em-up. N. Not enough combo possibilities or moves to sustain interest.

Lastability 78%
P. Eighteen difficulty settings... N. But not really the excitement to make you play all of the settings.

Overall 80%
A good enough game, but compared to other titles on the Megadrive and 32X it falls short. Strictly middle-of-the-road stuff.