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Boy, those stinking Omni Consumer Products guys are real money-grabbing gits! After all their troubles with the Robocop project, OCP have finally got around to building Delta City on top of derelict Old Detroit. Trouble is, they forgot that there were people still living in Old Detroit, and those people don't really want to be kicked out of their homes, even if they are a bit run-down. But do OCP care? They do not. Seeing as these folks won't move, OCP have hired in the local gangs of heavies, armed them to the teeth and told them to evict the inhabitants by force.

Robocop, public-spirited soldier of justice that he is, has decided to turn against his old bosses and 'Protect The Innocent' by marching into Old Detroit then Gunning Down The Guilty. For this purpose he comes armed with his pistol and gets to play with any weapons he finds on his travels.

Robo starts the game with a puny single-shot automatic pistol. In fact, it's so puny that it takes three or four shots to knock down one of the unarmoured thugs on level one. Better weapons lie ahead, and once he's picked up a new gun he can switch between his armoury at the press of a button.

Don't expect infinite ammo, though. Bullets need to be picked up where you see the icon, and if you run out Robo has to fight with his bare fists! Anyway, here's what on offer...

1. Laser
   Launches a powerful beam of destructive energy which doesn't do robot foes or armoured enemies any good at all.
2. Missile Launcher
   Launches missiles, unsurprisingly. They don't home-in or anything, and they're about as powerful as a laser.
3. Flame Thrower
   Shoots a short-range burst of heat which incinerates anything in the vicinity. More powerful than a laser and better for close-in combat.
4. Three-Way
   Fires forward and diagonally up and down. Good for dealing with baddies holed up in the upper storeys of houses.

Yeah, whatever happened to the third Robocop movie, eh? Well, Robocop 3 has actually been made, and it was originally scheduled for release in 1992, but when the filmmakers, Orion Pictures, went bust it vanished into movie limbo. The rights to the picture were bought up by another company so it will still be released, though when is unknown.

When it does come out, it should be more accessible than its 18-rated predecessors as the violence aspect has been heavily toned down in favour of a less restrictive certification which should mean a wider audience.

Based on the Super Nintendo game which is based on the long-awaited third instalment in the Robocop movie series.

Guide Robocop around the platform levels of Old Detroit, blasting away at OCP's thugs and their defence robots with whatever weapons you can find.

I feared the worst as soon as I started this game and witnessed the deformed Robocop sprite which is decidedly top-heavy and walks as if he's got something brown and nasty sliding down the insides of his tin trousers.

The iffy graphics are a constant feature of the game, but the worst thing about Robocop 3 is the difficulty level, which is way over the top, even on the easy setting. In many cases you simply can't avoid getting shot.

It gets particularly frustrating on later levels, because he simply can't fire bullets fast enough to take out all the thugs before they nail him. Compared to Robocop Vs. The Terminator this looks decidedly feeble.

There's nothing worse than a mediocre game and Robocop 3 falls into that category quite neatly with its substandard graphics, repetitive and much-too-hard gameplay and naff sound effects.

I love a good blast more than anybody and I hate games that you can sail through with no real effort but there are limits - Robocop quite resoundingly breaks them as you're faced very early on with so many enemies that Robo can't possibly shoot them all.

If the actual gameplay was dynamic enough, you might want to persevere. But it isn't and I didn't and I sincerely doubt if any of you will either.

Presentation 79%
P. Good selection of options and moderately attractive set of Robo-art title screens.

Graphics 52%
P. More colourful than you might expect.
N. Many of the sprites, most noticeably the Robocop sprite, look very amateurish, and the animation is not the best either.

Sound 70%
P. Pretty funky music, particularly on the first level.
N. The sampled effects sound very rough.

Playability 56%
N. Rock hard to the point of frustration. Robo often has no chance of avoiding bullets, even on the easy levels.

Lastability 50%
P. Well, it's certainly challenging!
N. So challenging that you may well give up after a couple of hours. Those graphics don't exactly lure you onwards.

Overall 52%
An insipid shooter with a ridiculous level of difficulty. Let's hope the Robocop 3 movie isn't as feeble as this game!