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Number Five is a SAINT (Strategic Artificially Intelligent Nuclear Transport) series robot, produced for the US military by Nova Robotics. By a bizarre stroke of fate, this omnipotent killing machine has been zapped by a million-volt lightning bolt and become a living entity, with a conscience and a will to survive.

This doesn't meet with the approval of either the security forces, who are none too keen on having a laser-toting robot wandering all over the place, or Nova Robotics, who want to dismantle him and find out exactly what has happened. Both want him back - and not necessarily in one place!

Short Circuit is divided into two sections, relating to Number Five's escape from the Nova factory, and his subsequent attempts to remain free by evading his pursuers.

The first section takes the form of an arcade adventure, in which the robot roams through a research complex, searching for the equipment necessary to complete his laser and jumping mechanism. Without these he cannot successfully escape from the factory. He also needs to discover the technical data which enables him to produce a decoy robot. This is then used in the next stage to fool the authorities.

The second section follows Number Five's journey across country, hotly pursued by his would-be captors. The local wildlife must also be avoided, as his conscience is so troubled by the death of living things that he shuts down if he inadvertently harms too many creatures.

On completion of the dummy robot, which is destroyed in his place, the robot makes his way to his human friends' van and freedom.

Number Five is joystick controlled and, as in reality, has only one life. To account for this, there is the option to play the second stage without having to complete the first.

Oh dear, another film tie-in - and this one is a pretty poor effort. Graphically, Short Circuit offers nothing new - Number Five scrambles about in a rather awkward fashion, and the interiors on the factory section are presented in crude 3D.

The second stage is better, but is annoyingly difficult to play - both sections tend to be very repetitive, as any progress depends on a previous knowledge of the screen layouts. This means that you can expect to die quite a few times before completing a section, not to mention the entire game.

Certainly not one of the better arcade adventures available, but may have a limited appeal.

This is very 'nice' and 'cute' with some pretty graphics and jolly tunes, but there's nothing in the action to make an impact.

The arcade adventure section is tedious and unrewarding, and the chase sequence is boring and completely silly. There's nothing outstanding about Short Circuit - it's just another addition to the huge mountain of average 'licensed' computer games.

Short Circuit joins the growing range of licensed games that have not been exploited to their full potential. Both sections are weak - the arcade adventure part is repetitive and fairly dull to look at due to the grey backdrops and scenery.

This unexciting playing area didn't inspire me to play further and successfully enter the second half - which isn't much better. The graphics are occasionally humorous but, more often than not, are crude.

Short Circuit is just another average game with a nice licence slapped on to it.

Presentation 78%
Decent loading screen, good instructions, and a few useful features.

Graphics 59%
Poor first section with Number Five looking and moving badly, but the second section is fairly attractive.

Sound 76%
Reasonable in-game music, and a good version of poor tune on the title screen.

Hookability 60%
Easy go get to grips with, and despite the weak gameplay it still retains some addictive qualities.

Lastability 39%
Interest soon wanes, due to its repetitive nature.

Value For Money 41%
Two limited levels is not enough to justify the price.

Overall 49%
A strange choice of licence, poorly implemented.