Cheap and cheerful

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Return Of R2 falls into the arcade adventure category. Your task is to steer a robot - R2 - around the planet Zelger to collect the boxes of Z42 compound. Three of these must be taken to the power room of Zelger to keep up the energy supplies. This task has to be completed within the time limit which is said to be 20 minutes.

Ranged against you are large numbers of radio-active barriers, laser bolt guns, a weird fire-breathing Buddha - or is it a dragon? - and planks which suddenly fly at you. Your only controls are left, right, up and down.

The animation is quite good, being based on the technique called filmation. Each room is shown in 3D with a number of exits which look rather like a part of Stonehenge.

When you start playing you seem limited to a fairly small number of screens. A box can be seen in the corner of one, but it is totally protected by barriers.

After a period of frustration, you may wonder why the wall in one room seems to have a slight defect in its make up, but that little hole in the wall holds the key to getting any further.

Master that trick and you can wander along many a mile of similar passageways, avoiding laser bolts and barriers, and eventually finding all three boxes. The 20 minute limit does not seem to apply, but it gives you some idea of the time you are likely to have to spend to actually complete all the tasks.

Of course, it will take longer to learn what you have to do. R2 is not a game to rave over - and it will not be a classic - but represents fair value at the price. It will probably mean no more than one evening's worth of work/enjoyment to people used to this type of program.

Rog Frost