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Warning: Domark are at pains to point out that whatever information you may have heard to the contrary, Barry Manilow will not appear in their game. Not in any shape, size or form. Nope.

Phew! At least that's one set of nostrils we won't have to worry about. Or do we?

Well, actually we don't just have to worry about Barry's puzzling proboscis - we've got to worry about everyone else's as well. No, no, it's not a mystery maniac plastic surgeon, it's worse than that - basically, the end of the world is nigh.

Or at least it nearly is, 'cos one of the world's six most threatening leaders (Maggie, Gorby, Ronnie, Pope Paulie, Khomeini or Bothie... er... sorry, Botha) is gonna take over if you don't throw a spanner in the works.

Hold it! We didn't mean literally throw a spanner - just set those cute lil' old leaders fighting against each other one to one (best of five bouts) and see who survives. Then deal with the remaining blot on the political landscape secretly (i.e. find out when you get there right?)

And that's it, is it? Nope. Well, you didn't expect this lot to play clean, did you? For a start each his own personal dirty secret er... weapon (whips, water pistols - all that stuff) and an even nastier sidekick who come on at demand to throw bottles, squirt explosives and other nasty tricks.

And now - Blue Peter.

If you fancy a soothing afternoon admiring the graphical capabilities of your C64, do yourself a favour - don't buy a copy of this. OK, so forget about the graphics, what about the game...?

Bit boring, if you ask me. It's really just a load of bashing the joystick and hoping you score a hit - not the most varied beat-'em-up I've ever seen.

The Amiga version might have better animated graphics but when you get down to it, the gameplay's pretty much the same - all the same.

Don't buy, unless you're weely, weely sure it's what you want.

Bit of a larf this. Well, the packaging and presentation is anyway. In fact, as far as jobs like the inlay, the box, the intro and the inbetween game bits go, Domark have definitely come up with a winner.

Shame the gameplay doesn't match up to all of that, though. I mean, strip away all the TV hype and all you've got is an average beat-'em-up. On the Amiga version the graphics go some way to making up for this (big sprites, clever secret weapons) but the C64 version is so badly drawn you might as well be watching your mum and dad slogging it out on the local football pitch.

If you really want this, try it out first.

Presentation 80%
Trendy intro sequence and selection screen. Two-player game.

Graphics 30%
Blocky, fuzzy sprites and basic backgrounds on the C64. The Amiga sprites are much larger, better animated and the backdrops have more detail - but then, they should have.

Sound 43%
Both versions have the familiar Spitting Image TV title tune and sparse, basic, in-game spot effects.

Hookability 49%
Well, it's worth looking into...

Lastability 34%
...but not for that long.

Overall 39%
Tasty presentation. Not so tasty game.

Presentation 80%
Graphics 75%
Sound 40%
Hookability 63%
Lastability 49%
Overall 59%