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Who'd be stupid enough to follow a strange machine-man through an intergalactic time warp? Ronaan and his cronies have come from an unpolluted world that banished machines years ago. Anyway, they follow a mechanical impostor spotted on their planet into a warp which takes them to Las Vegas, circa now. Ronaan is unable to locate a return portal. If that wasn't enough, they've got a whole host of barmy robot creatures out to get them. So it's up to you to help. Kill the robots, find the portal and send this bunch of cosmic snobs back from whence they came.

TechnoClash is an original game concept. However, the presentation resembles the Crackdown/Gauntlet viewpoint, and the story has echoes of Terminator.

Follow the instructions for each level from the safe haven. Guide Ronaan and his guardian round the maze levels.

Magic is the core defence of Ronaan's band. Arabis, his tutor, has taught his charge nine offensive magical spells. Ronaan has a basic spell, which he may cast indefinitely. All other spells come in limited batches. Ronaan needs to locate more supplies once he's cast them all.

1. Lightning
   A fast spell with a long range. The lightning beam has only a limited effect on larger enemies, but is devastating to lower-level ones.
2. Super
   A hefty impact spell, but moves slowly. However, one superspell destroys several enemies if it lands amongst them.
3. Angle
   The energy pulse of the angle spell looks like a boomerang. It bounces off walls as it travels, and moving the joypad directs its path of travel.
4. Time Bomb
   This is the only spell which harms Ronaan or his mate. Detonates after being laid for several seconds. Time Bombs are the only things to damage elevators or transporters.
5. Mondo Major
   A very odd name for a spell which is basically a smart bomb. Does not automatically destroy every on-screen creature, but weakens them considerably.
6. Hold
   A circle of energy which immobilises its target.
7. Wide
   A fireball spell, but one which spits them in three directions, covering a wide trajectory. Useful in areas crawling with foes.
8. Death
   One of the strongest (and rarest) combat spells. Death kills most enemies, and takes a hefty chunk of a boss' energy. Save them.
9. Basic
   The fallback spell. Basics may be powered up to a rapid-fire status, if the appropriate 'B' icon is located.

There are four defensive spells, less interesting to look at, but darn useful. 'Heal' restores your energy bar; 'Levitate' allows you to cross otherwise perilous gaps; 'Invulnerable' gives you a few seconds of immunity from attack; lastly, 'Teleport' takes you to the safe haven, where Arabis is waiting to heal you.

Ronaan starts each level from a safe base called a 'Cheltor', which heals him or sometimes offers clues. Choose one of two heavies to accompany his romps. Shall it be the strong, silent thug, or the brainy wizard? Whichever you choose, place them close by to act as bodyguards. Alternatively, choose an offensive attitude for them, which makes them attack nearly enemies. The last option is 'Shadow', when they follow Ronaan closely, but don't use their weapons.

1. Tharrg
   He's a barbarian, which means he doesn't use spells. Thargg's broadsword is always handy to have as a back-up, and once powered up, he's devastating.
2. Chazz
3. Despite his sad name, Chazz is a competent wizard, with powers comparable to Ronaan. He also teleports when Ronaan levitates across gaps.

It's a nice idea and wielding my magical muscles for the first level was good fun. But by level two my attention had started to wane, but I persevered only to be told that I couldn't leave the level until I'd located and battered a hitherto hidden boss - how tedious.

I played a few more levels of this game but my opinion remained the same - good graphics, sounds awful, has a nice range of spells but gameplay-wise it's fairly tedious. Not really worth the dosh.

Leave the unconvincing plot aside. Let's get down to the meat of the action.

Despite having loads of spells, and reasonable graphics, playing TechnoClash is a matter of going through the motions. The second level is a trudge to locate four cards, and then a search for something to fight.

Level three is even more long-winded. Okay, with only seven levels, you would expect them to be long, but the game seems to become an inconvenience on the way to the end sequence. This is not bad, just mediocre.

Presentation 76%
P. Spell selection has been done sensibly. Choice of fighting partners.
N. The game lacks much needed skill differentials.

Graphics 79%
N. The music is pretty dire, and the game keeps issuing metallic boings, hisses and other odd nervous sound FX (for no apparent reason).

Sound 43%
P. A wide selection of war themes and rural melodies greet the ears.

Playability 74%
P. The action is initially engaging.
N. The aims of the game sometime are a bit oblique. The amount of heals littered around make progress all too easy.

Lastability 65%
P. The game seems to jump a gear from level four onwards.
N. There are only seven levels, and passwords coupled with continues won't leave them uncracked long.

Overall 68%
When all the nonsense about Tharggs and 'machine men' is swept aside, this is nothing but an average exploration game, with a short game life.