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You're mean, you're lean and you've been appointed take that nasty tyrant, the optician General Swindells, out. Leap into your chopper, ease the throttle - and you're off. Wooh!

Your mission takes you through city, desert and river delta (overhead viewpoint first then head-on 3D). You've got cannons and missiles to help you counter choppers and tanks - but ultimate success depends on your flying skill.

Lucky you got that freebie helicopter in your cornflakes last week, wasn't it?

Cor blimey, take a look at that 3D! You can't really tell from a still screenshot, but the 3D in this is absolutely brill.

Talk about realistic depth and height! Of course, none of that's any good if you haven't got the gameplay, but this definitely has. If I was being picky (OK, OK, I'm being picky) I'd say it was just a bit hard to start off with, but then who cares when you've got something that's nearly as good as the coin-op staring you in the face? Not me, mate.

Phew! This is one arcade conversion you're not going to get fed up with in a hurry. Talk about incredibly hair-raising 3D and 'orribly hard levels! This is so reminiscent of the coin-op, even the difficulty level is just as tough.

OK, they could have one a lot more with the sound, but the fast-paced action, the fact that it's ruddy hard and the brilliant graphics make this great fun to play.

If you're a fan of the arcade machine, you won't be able to keep your hands off this conversion.

Presentation 63%
Nice high score table and intro screens, but the multi-load is a bit of a pain.

Graphics 86%
Excellent 3D effect - among the best on the Amiga.

Sound 41%
Basic flying and shooting noises plus weak, short title tune.

Hookability 82%
It looks good and, anyway, it's Thunderblade so you can't resist a go.

Lastability 80%
It's a tough nut to crack, so you'll be playing for a while.

Overall 80%
A bit more tweaking and it would have been just like owning the coin-op!