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Four months after C64's The Untouchables won a Gold Medal for capturing Al Capone, the gangster has escaped onto the Amiga. Once again, vast profits from illegally importing and selling alcohol, banned by the Prohibition laws, has allowed him to totally corrupt the police of Chicago. But the sheer flamboyance of his rule over the city has drawn attention from national government, and FBI agent Eliot Ness is sent to put him away.

Mr. Clean's first raid is on a warehouse crammed with crooks armed with Thompson machine guns. Ness's police escort soon take fright and leave him alone to face overwhelming odds. But also in the warehouse are ten of Capone's accountants. An arrow points to the nearest of these, and if he's shot a ledger is dropped - collect it for vital evidence. Getting all the evidence won't be easy, however, energy and bullets are both limited. Fortunately, many of the crooks drop violin cases containing extra ammo, life force, and a gadget which gives you rapid fire for a while.

After his betrayal in the warehouse raid. Ness forms a team of incorruptible cops: Stone, Malone and Wallace (an accountant!). Their first mission is to catch gangsters smuggling alcohol over a bridge from Canada. Unlike the C64 game, you can only control Ness who, armed with a sniper rifle, rolls from left to right across a horizontally scrolling screen packed with gangsters. 50 bottles of liquor must be shot. First aid kits restore energy when shot. Fortunately if you die on any of the levels (except five), you can restart the current level.

After winning the bridge battle, Ness learns Capone's top accountant is trying to leave Chicago. The Untouchables race toward the railway station, but are ambushed in the alleys. There are eight alleys: in each, you must shoot a certain number of gangsters inside a very tight time limit. You can hide behind a wall to reload your shotgun and switch between Malone and Wallace.

Survive this extremely tough ambush, and Ness arrives in the railway station to see an abandoned pram rolling down a very long staircase. Ness must ensure it doesn't hit any obstacles - spilling the baby out to its death - while simultaneously hooting an endless stream of gangsters. Make it to the bottom staircase and you find one of the gangsters has taken the accountant hostage. This is level five, and you have just a couple of seconds to shoot the gangster in this first-person perspective, "RoboCop-style" screen. Fail and the accountant is killed, sending you back to the start of level four.

Once the accountant is caught, his evidence puts Capone away. But one of his accomplices has got away: Ness chases him onto the roof of a building. This level is similar to the alley scene, with Ness armed with a six-shooter. As the crook pops out of his hiding place, shoot at him and, after a bit, he'll make a dash across the roof. Shoot him repeatedly and he's thrown nearer the building's edge. Eventually he's thrown over the side - and that should be the end for Capone for good!

Okay, everyone else has gone on about the C64 comparison, but how is it as a straight Amiga game? The first level is a little disappointing, a bit too simple, but still very playable with good graphics (an improvement on the Atari ST's anyway!).

Level two is also well presented but thankfully tougher, as are the two excellent shootout scenes. My favourite level, though, is the morbidly funny "save the baby scene" - but how come a bullet only injures the poor mite, while overturning the pram kills him instantly?!

As you can see, there's a lot to this game. Uniquely each level is a game in its own right. The fact that once you get on a level, you stay there until you complete it has allowed the programmers to make some of them very tough, although wimps may be assured there is a great cheat allowing you to play whatever level you want - the Hogg will reveal it as soon as possible.

Considering the fact that there's so much variety - and not a single weak subgame - I'd say this gives Operation Thunderbolt a good run for its money, in the single-player shoot-'em-up stakes at least!

This is one tough game, that's for sure! Special FX have made the Amiga version a lot faster paced with a true arcade action feel to it. Tactical elements present in the C64 game have been taken out to enhance the overall playability, although the game complexity takes a knock in the process (witness the omission of the ability to swap between men on the bridge scene!).

The first level is disappointing, although the graphics are detailed. Keep with it though and you're rewarded with a superb variety of gameplay, even better graphics, and some great samples (although the ragtime tunes aren't so hot).

Probably my favourite level is the alley scene - unbelievably tough. The first alley's time limit seems to pass in an eyeblink! And when you get the hood armed with a machine gun blasting away...! I also love the railway station levels with their superb graphics.

The C64 game was a real value-for-money fun package of different game styles and there's no reason to say otherwise with the Amiga game.

Special FX have done a lot more than simply producing 16-bit graphics for the Amiga version of the Gold Medal-winning C64 game. The whole game structure has been subtly changed and speeded up...!

Level one, for instance, has a considerably smaller map so you hardly need to do any climbing. This removes the tactical element, but to compensate the men are about three times as big and fire a lot faster. Ammunition is no longer unlimited as well, making the level a lot faster to play, easier to get into, and not as tough to beat. Level two is also faster: you never need to use the telescopic sight so its more of an Operation Thunderbolt game. As a consequence, the game has a more intense arcade feel. The brightly coloured graphics reflect this.

So, while it lacks the C64's atmosphere - and isn't as technically stunning - it's still an excellent game.

Presentation 78%
Choice of sound effects or music, good loading screen, sensible disk access but no inter-level pictures, only newspaper screens.

Graphics 89%
Lots of big, superbly detailed and well-animated sprites on good backgrounds. Bright arcade colours rather than C64 realism.

Sound 86%
Some very good FX and above-average tunes - pity you have to choose between them.

Hookability 89%
First level is not as complex as the C64's, but it's faster and helps get you into the game quicker.

Lastability 93%
Six levels, many substantially tougher than the C64, add up to a big challenge.

Overall 90%
A first class conversion of an excellent game.