There isn't much to say about Scramble Spirits that isn't obvious from the screen shots; it's a vertically-scrolling shoot-'em-up based on the Sega arcade game, it's as close as you could expect to the original, and it's not much fun. You wouldn't think so from the shots; but this is one of those games which look nice, but which turn out to be unplayable.

The small, detailed monochrome graphics might look good in a still, but once everything's flying around, and you're trying to keep track of your plane, your partner's plane (on the two-player game), all the enemy planes, missiles, bombs and bullets, the whole thing just gets frustrating.

Picking up the odd special weapon, such as a drone which can be fired like a guided missile, adds a little to the fun, but basically if you have 1942 or Flying Shark, you won't get much extra out of Scramble Spirits. Indigestion, maybe.

Label: Grandslam Author: Tecque Price: £9.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Garth Sumpter

Disappointing shoot-'em-up, looks nicer than it plays.