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It's sick bag time again, folks. Time to slip into that cool leather flying jacket, snap on the shades and prove that you and your joystick are masters of the skies.

Sonic Boom, the title of the original Sega coin-op, is also the world's most powerful jet fighter - and you drew the short straw when it came to defending vital military bases from global terrorist attack. Mission instructions are short and sweet; wipe out aerial formations and ground-based oil rigs, pick up parachutes for extra firepower and additional outrider jets.

That's if you can manage to dodge all the bullets and avoid the fireballs the exploding rigs leave behind. One or two players can take part and there are six levels, stretching across deserts, cities and seas. At the end of each stage a huge mega-target appears - put out all its gun emplacements and you're well on your way to becoming top gun.

There are great shoot-'em-ups that would tempt you to trade your granny for, and there are shoot-'em-ups you wouldn't even swap a purple tank top for.

Sonic Boom comes somewhere in the middle. Technically, it's all fairly competent - the scrolling's smooth, the collision detection's accurate, the graphics are adequate - but what's really missing is some seriously sizzling gameplay.

Fast-pased action, innovative weapon improvements and devious alien formations, Sonic Boom just hasn't got. Instead, it's just a plain, old-fashioned and mostly unoriginal blaster which churns out wave after wave of well-defined enemies but still lacks the pazazz that would like it head and shoulders above the crowd.

Weedy bullets, irritatingly droning sound and unspectacular graphics amount to more of a sonic poop than a boom.