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It's strange what some people get addicted to. Hitting a little metal ball with two plastic flippers then building up a sweat as you watch it disappear into tunnels, bang off bells and light up flashing messages sounds like a pretty odd and boring pastime, only for the saddest of people. However if you've ever played pinball, you'll know... It's unbeatable.

Code Master's latest pinball offering combines this highly addictive pastime with that other great British pastime. Soccer. Not a bad idea, but just how successful can the marriage of these two completely different sports be, especially on computer?

With a strong pull of the spring the ball goes shooting though the tube, bounces off a few (not very exciting) objects and ends up balancing on top of the flipper. A light touch of the button on the Spectrum's keyboard makes the flipper jump sending the ball zooming up the pitch and into a empty net. The crowd are off their seats! The whistle goes, it's all over, Cyril Herelle has won the cup! (Get on with it! - Ed)

Now this is what I call fun. Although the basic object of the game is to score goals and prevent the ball from going down the drain there is a lot more to the game than just this. You must score three goals to progress to the next level, defeat the keeper by knocking down players or by sheer skill aiming and reach the mind boggling final in level eight. A host of real pinball bonus features make the game very interesting indeed. These include mystery lanes, a bigger ball (you can get more balls by hitting these), a half time hooter and much more.

Other features include nicely drawn pictures which pop up after you or the computer score or when you finally win the game, objects to hit for special bonuses like waking up two footballers with a good bang of the ball and hitting the trophy to advance to the next level. There is also a very dangerous alley which makes your keeper disappear if you let the ball go down it.

And that's really it. Soccer pinball owes more to the game of pinball than it does to soccer, it's basically "pinball where you have to score goals", but I can't really see any thing wrong with that. Competent but rather unexciting graphics and some very nice sound effects, combined with acceptably challenging gameplay make for a simple but addictive game which, if you're good at pinball you may be interested in seeing but if your interest solely like in soccer then you might give it a miss.

Label: Codemaster Memory: 48K/128K Price: £3.99 Tape Program By: Reviewer: Cyril Herelle

Get your fingers pumping, your brain whirling, your toes tapping and your nose a picking! Yes it is a strange idea but it works and that's what counts. At the price I would recommend this game anytime.