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New York-based First Star software has the dubious claim to fame of having coded the best and worst computer game versions of popular comic heroes.

Fortunately we are not discussing their appalling Superman effort here - but the excellent conversion of Mad Comics' Spy Vs. Spy strip.

Although not offering any bells and whistles or improvements to sound and graphics, all the essentials of the gameplay are here in this Atari ST version.

Just as in the comic itself, the game follows the slapstick versions of two bungling spies - who, in this case, have to escape from an embassy with the top secret plans safely tucked away in your briefcase.

Two players can race against each other to find the plans - setting traps for each other or simply battling it out with the sword if you should happen into the same room of the huge building.

The game is at its best as a two-player challenge - in fact it still remains one of the best two player games ever, despite being a bit long in the tooth now.

The real fun in Spy Vs. Spy is watching your opponent falling for one of your devious booby traps. The Trapulator is a box to the left of the play windows with all the traps represented by icons. There are bombs, springs, a bucket of water, strings and guns. Certain of the traps have to be treated with care - like the cannon-shaped bomb with the characteristic smouldering fuse. This one has an annoying habit of blowing up in your face.

Fortunately there are remedies for the traps hidden in the embassy, and you can pick these up and carry them from room to room - which is useful if there is a room you suspect may have something useful in it but you cannot search it because of the trap.

The neat thing about Spy Vs. Spy is that as well as being a race against the other spy, it is also a race against time. A digital clock ticks away above the Trapulator. When the clock ticks down to zero your escape plan will take off from the abandoned airfield with or without you. And remember there is no point in making a dash for the plane without the plans, your passport, a key and some money.

The conclusion to Spy Vs. Spy and the way in which the whole arcade adventure is planned is a credit to the game designers.

There is a real sense of entertainment and pride when yuo view the end game sequence having completed the challenge for the first time. You see your spy climbing aboard the plane, watch it edge gently down the runway, and then ease into the air and away off the screen. Possibly one of the best end game sequences ever - and well worth persevering with the game to see it.

There were three games altogether in the Spy series. It has not yet been decided if they will all be converted to the Atari ST and Amiga. Episodes two and three were not that different to the first.

However, the original Spy Vs. Spy game is well worth considering - even if the price is a bit steep at just under £25. There are still not that many decent two-player games for the Atari ST - so the addition of one of the best is certainly welcome.