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Regular readers of 2000 AD comic will know all about Johnny Alpha, the Strontium Dog. Johnny is a Search and Destroy Agent, a future style bounty hunter, who travels the universe tracking down evildoers and criminals.

Strontium Dog And The Death Gauntlet is Quicksilva's first outing with a character from the comic. More 2000 AD characters are to appear in future games.

It's a basic shoot-up game with some pretty graphics and a nice line in sound effects.

You control Johnny Alpha who, along with his partner Wulf Sternhammer, has been tracking down two renegade Strontium Dogs - the collective name for Mutants. Yes, Johnny is a Mutant too! These renegades are known as The Stix Brothers.

Wulf and Gronk, a faint hearted alien, are waiting for Johnny on the Planet of Renegades. As Johnny neared the planet, his craft was attacked by the Brothers and forced to crash land. Johnny has to cross the dangerous planet to meet his friends on foot. And that's where you come in.

You have to help him reach his mates, fighting off desperate criminals, renegade robots and deadly vegetation. Johnny is carrying electro-flares which he can use to dazzle the nasties and stop them firing at him for a few seconds at a time. He also has his trusty laser pistol to blast back at them.

There are Time Grids dotted around the planet which send him short distances back in time if he bumps into them.

The screen shows a main display of the planet's surface with Johnny and his opponents in glorious Commodore colour. At the bottom of the screen is a small landscape map which shows Johnny's position on the planet. He has to cross Mountains, desert and a cityscape before he reaches Wulf the Gronk.

There are five different levels of play - each progressively more difficult.

Don't expect too much from the game just because it features your favourite comic hero - but having said that, Strontium Dog is a solid shoot out with a few nice twists that will keep you interested on a rainy afternoon. But I'm not too sure how long the appeal will last.