Over the years those Codemasters have brought more than a few wacky characters into the world; Dizzy (an egg), CJ (an elephant), Seymour (a small, squishy thing), Richard and David Darling (more squishy things), Little Puff (a dragon) and Steg the Slug (a slug) to name just a few. Ouattro Megastars centres in on what they consider their four biggest megastars or, more likely, four games that haven't appeared on any of their other cheapy compilations yet.

Having reviewed this game twice already, I could probably do it for a third with my eyes closed (if it wasn't for the fact that then I couldn't see what I was typing). Er, yes, CJ's Antics may be naff with two players (the play area is biased to player one so player two can scroll right off the screen), and the scrolling may be crap, but this isn't enough to stifle what still comes out as one of the Codies' most addictive moments. A straight platforms and ladders game is what we're looking at, with you shooting, avoiding and dying your way through tonnes of levels. And you're just sure that, next time, you'll definitely be able to get a bit further. Great, if slightly flawed. 74%

Having played so many one-way-scrolling shoot-'em-ups on the Spectrum already, I could probably do it again with my eyes closed (if it wasn't for the fact that I've already made the 'but then I won't be able to see' joke). Personally, I didn't think much of this one. You're supposedly a stunt man in a film set, so who are the people you are shooting down and killing? More stunt men? (You don't really kill them. You're just acting. You'll lose your job if you don't look authentic. Ed) And then there's there's the sheer lack of skill involved - stay at the back of the screen and fire and you'll get a long way. I'm sorry, but we had far nicer looking, more addictive and far more playable shoot-'em-ups than this years ago, even on budget (Chronos, anyone?). 43%

"If you like the Dizzy games, you'll love this" claimed the ever truthful Codies when they first released this. These were the days when every other CodeMasters' game wasn't necessarily a cutesy arcade adventure - little Puff was only the second character to emerge, and in a game which seemed quite novel at the time. These days, of course, every other CodeMasters' game is a cutesy arcade adventure. They have improved from the days of the original Dizzy, and therefore the days of Little Puff. (But not a quarter as much as they should have done in that time.) It's fun, but it's dated. 76%

Hello, it's a typically sweet puzzle game which plays suspiciously like Dizzy in a large furry pelt. As Bigfoot, you have to knuckle your way around the place, using such un-Bigfoot-like objects as TNT, fuse wire and broken disco signs to rescue your girlfriend, who, unsurprisingly, has been kidnapped. It's alarmingly uninspired. Ho hum. 59%

Four budget games for the price of one can't be bad, which, well, kind of sums things up totally, if in a rather predictable way. Buy and enjoy, that's what I say. Buy and enjoy.