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Rubicon's leaders have left their palatial underground environment - and their treasures. One day they will return, but in the meantime you can engage in a little plundering in the halls and passages of Rubicon.

These are patrolled by harmful floor-slitherers and airborne mini-fighters, and deadly darts which kill immediately. To conserve your three lives, you must jump and duck to avoid the approaching mechanical executioners. You can also acquire helpful objects.

Making your way through the corridors and antigrav entries of Rubicon's first level, you discover a control room with an overhead display of multicoloured symbols. Once you've mastered its mysteries, you can reach higher levels of Rubicon.

But don't forget there's a time limit on your scavenging...

Control keys: Z left, X right, L up, SYMBOL SHIFT down
Joysticks: Kempston, Cursor, Sinclair
Use of colour: vividly colourful
Graphics: big, but unrealistic animation
Sound: Spot FX
Skill levels: one

'Rubicon is very colourful, and the graphics are big and smooth-moving though not particularly interesting. But the gameplay is boring and repetitive - it's mostly running around a maze. It takes a while to get used to the controls, and there's no real incentive to learn. There's a distinct lack of things to do In Rubicon - I can't think of any redeeming features other than the colourful graphics.'

'My first reaction to Rubicon was negative - and it hasn't changed much. The graphics are okay, and the backgrounds are very colourful, though your man in the spacesuit moves like he's walking through treacle. Control is simple, but the game is often slow to react to threats from the missiles and other nasty surprises that Rubicon's rulers have left for you. Rubicon is a barely average search-and-collect-'em-up'

'This must be one of the year's most tedious products. There's absolutely no fun in Rubicon, and its appearance is very unappealing. The graphics do nothing to enhance the awkward control, and the instructions give no useful information. Rubicon - the game to put you to sleep in less than a minute.'