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For some strange reason, lost in the timeless void that is called Space, a bunch of incredibly ruthless alien types have begun a systematic destruction of anything looking vaguely like a rabbit (?!). In a fit of maniacal ruthlessness they have tracked down the bunny capital of the cosmos and now plan to destroy it.

One rabbit who isn't particularly chuffed by the mass carnage of his race is Rapid Lepus. Cursed from youth with a particularly tragic name, he decides to earn the respect of his race by saving the planet. In a desperate bid to save his kinfolk from the jaws of annihilation, he decides to grab his trusty electro-shield, mega-death laser and a bag of homing missiles. For close range destructive power, he's also packed his amazing bunny boxing gloves and he can use these to rabbit punch any cocky aliens who get too close...

Rabid Lepus must fly into the enemy's horizontally scrolling territories blasting as many of the aliens as is possible. A lot of canisters can be found on the way to the end of the level, and each have a different effect on our bunny saviour. Some provide him with extra rounds of homing missiles whilst others give extra energy and even a spell of invincibility!

Under the vaguely amusing rabbit scenario lies a very straightforward horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up, which is fine if you're into that sort of thing. However, there's a huge avalanche of this type of game available on the PC Engine including the likes of R-Type, and although Rapid Lepus is good, it's nowhere near as addictive as the amazing Irem arcade conversion.

The graphics are great with smooth-scrolling and great sprites and the sound is okay with arcade-like tunes and effects. The gameplay though, is very jaded and the range of weaponry available to Rapid Lepus is quite limited.

The attack waves hold no surprises and the end-of-level bosses are pretty uninspiring. If you're a hardcore shoot-'em-up junkie in need of a challenge, then Rabid Lepus is great. Just don't expect anything mindbendingly original, that's all.