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A week may be a long time in politics, but it's not much when you've got to stop the evil Dr. Destructo taking over the world.

First the protective forces of the Doctor must be taken out, and then his island hideaway, the Last Resort.

The fighting force of this scientific megalomaniac is a swarm of planes and jets. Some are slow, some fast, some harmless, some deadly and unpredictable. Manoeuvrable helicopters join their fixed-wing kin to fire lethal sucker darts; skymines enter from the top of the screen; bombers release cluster bombs; shuttles and satellites change direction quickly; hyperjets provide violent surprises; flying saucers hover menacingly.

These deadly enemies can send your craft plummeting into the sea or ground below, ending one of your seven lives.

But your small, athletic plane has the shooting power to take out Destructo's war machines. Destroyed, they drop from the skies onto the ships and buildings of Destructo's island. Gradually the impact of these crashes removes small sections, which pierce the structures and send them sinking into the sea.

Your plane also carries a single bomb in each screen, which can be delivered to quickly write off Destructo's assets. It usually takes three holes to destroy a target, and then you can move onto the next of the 21 screens and another corner of Destructo's seabound empire.

Be careful near the edge of the screen - approach too close and you're sent spinning out of control and possibly into the path of a lethal yellow bomber or blue jet. They, too, must be destroyed.

As time progresses, the sun and moon pass overhead and a countdown shows the few days remaining before Dr. Destructo becomes master of the world.

Two players can control a plane each in a joint effort to wipe out Destructo's island.

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: detailed objects but too much colour clash
Sound: spot FX
Options: two players can team up; definable keys

Destructo is a cute little game with adequately detailed graphics: the only problem is the colour clash. The sound isn't much, just beeps and blips for a firing noise and no tune. But otherwise Destructo is good and addictive, keeping up the Bulldog standard.

The Bulldog label started off superbly with Feud (Crash Issue 38), but since then it's been all downhill. I can't see why Mastertronic would risk tarnishing their good image this way. In Destructo the graphics are acceptable but suffer from a more-than-liberal splattering of colour.

Games like this are ideal for people who find noughts and crosses enthralling, but for us interlskchuals Destructo is terribly boring and repetitive.'

Destructo is really out of the ark - I remember playing games like this three or four years ago. The graphics aren't bad, despite the obvious colour clash; the airplanes are quite nicely drawn, and amusing as they wobble around. But the sound is naff, just a few poops and parps. The controls are simple and easy to master, and though Destructo is repetitive it's quite fun to play for a while. Still, I doubt its lastability.