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The Vietnam War was a particularly pointless exercise: America dropped most of its bombs, more than were used in WWII, on the country it was supposedly defending - South Vietnam. The Lost Patrol doesn't really deal with that, the GIs are still the good guys, but at least it's about survival rather than victory. Set in 1966, the game starts with the crash of a helicopter in some remote highlands.

As Sergeant Weaver your job is to lead the other side survivors in a trek across 57 miles of jungle and swampland to the nearest US base. Booby traps, Viet Cong troops and snipers will ensure it's an interesting trip.

The main screen is a map where you can select which direction to march in. Hills and rivers slow progress down, but following well-trodden trails makes you a sitting target for the Viet Cong. You can also decide the pace at which you march, how fast you consume rations and how often you rest, as well as how long you sleep at night.

Periodically static screens come up showing what's happening and occasionally there's a short digitized sequence.

Your trek is also interrupted by numerous arcade sequences. One of your scouts might run into a VC soldier, resulting in a simplistic Hand-To-Hand combat scene. You might also come under Sniper Attack. Here the screen shows a static picture of a village, as shots ring out tiny muzzle flashes can be spotted through your telescopic rifle sight.

A sharp eye is also required for the Battle Sequence, which has you pinned inside a ruined farmhouse. As you hide behind a wall VC stand up to take aim: pressing the right button has you standing up to fire back or throw grenades.

Somewhat similar is the Grenade Section with a VC sniper hiding in a field of wheat. Pressing Fire pulls the grenade pin out, leaving you a few seconds to select the strength of your throw. The overhead-view Minefield Section has one man crawling ahead of the rest, using a bayonet to uncover mines.

There are also confrontations with villagers who can offer

I was relieved to find that, unlike most strategy games, Lost Patrol is surprisingly easy to get into. The game is well presented with easy-to-use menus and atmospheric pictures.

I particularly liked the way the men in your command behave as individuals, occasionally disputing your leadership or even stabbing you in the back!

Some of the arcade sections are also very playable - the Sniper Attack sequence is particularly tense with a neat telescopic sight effect. The only trouble is that after a few goes the game's simple appeal starts to wear off and endlessly trudging through jungle becomes repetitive.

The heart of the game is strategic: picking your route, pace, rations and rest periods is critical to making significant progress.

Providing graphical glitz are numerous static screens and occasionally digitised sequences.

The former are well drawn, although the palette is often a bit pale, while the latter are only okay. The soundtrack is also disappointingly bland, yet there's no denying the overall impact is streets ahead of most strategy games.

The arcade sections are okay, but none are outstanding. A more serious problem is the RAM save option. Why no disk save? - possibly because the 57 miles isn't that long for a game.

It's certainly not easy thought, and going back to the start only to end up hitting the same booby traps again is frustrating. A few more missions would've made it better value for money.

Nevertheless, this is an innovative and interesting game which Vietnam buffs at least, might find very compulsive.

Presentation 85%
Disappointing fold-out instruction sheet and no disk save option, but animation sequences and static screens are good. Disk accessing reasonable.

Graphics 80%
A very high standard of artwork, the colours aren't always convincing and hand-to-hand combat is jerky, but very good overall.

Sound 77%
A good, if somewhat dull, and 'un-Vietnamese' soundtrack with the odd good spot FX.

Hookability 76%
Not that difficult to get into and the desire to see the arcade sequences is compulsive...

Lastability 68%
...but it's not that big a quest and the high difficulty means repeated trudging through that first twenty miles.

Overall 70%
Interesting and unusual but not outstanding.