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Eighteen quid?' Blimey' Oh well, on with the review .. Just when you thought it was safe to go for a dip again You know, no more oil slicks, no more swimming rubbish, no more floating toilet deposits, and the end of that rotten plastic shark from the movies Just when you thought it was time to dig that swimming cossie out once more, along comes some mad scientist called Madame Q. and the next minute there's lizard-women, lava-men and manta-creatures splashing around all over the place.

Or rather there isn't. At least not in the Amstrad version (you get all that stuff in the arcades and on the 16-bits. though). We CPC-kids have to make do with a few sharks, divers, robot guards, robo-dogs and fire women Not that we're complaining I mean, who really fancies a run in with a spider-bot anyway? Whatever a spider bot is.

Thunderjaws consists of four levels Each level consists of two stages. The first stage is set underwater where you have to avoid sharks, other divers and big shooting things. Only the shooting things really present any sort of problem Once your little swim's complete, there's a big metal door for you to blow away (it takes a lot of shooting).

The second phase is set inside one of Madame Q's fortresses. Here you'll meet robot guards, some women who've had their Ready Brek, and some doggies.

Now here's a question, what on earth have games programmers got against dogs all of a sudden, eh? Apart from Shadow Dancer, where the bow-wow was on our side, virtually every game released nowadays (Darkman and Thunderjaws are just two recent examples) features poor little woof-woofs as enemies! And it's not that they're even rottweilers, Alsatians or anything... Just your ordinary common or garden collies, normally. Just like Lassie. And what a sweet, luwerly, chum to people the world over young Lassie was. wasn't he/she/it. Defame Lassie at your peril, programmers.

Meanwhile, back at the game review, here are a few useful tips

1. Most underwater sequences are easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy (in Level Two, for instance, you might as well just point the joystick to the right and go off for a cup of tea or a brisk rub down with a jacket potato).

2. In the Level One underwater bit. the only problem comes at the end. You'll need to blow up that gun turret before you can safely start blasting the door.

3. The Level Three underwater bit has an end-of-stage guardian. It's a mechanical shark, and it's quite a tricky beast to bump off. Lots of precision swimming required here.

4. In the underwater fortress sections, use jump and Fire to leap to the higher platform (which is a lot quieter) when things get hectic. The baddies will still be waiting for you when you get down, though!

5. Shooting the dogs takes more than one shot, and you'll need to duck down. Jumping over them is safer.

6. Duck to avoid the fire of the robo-guards.

7. The Level One and Two guardians (mothership and giant three-pipe thing) are crap, and can be seen off without getting so much as a scratch yourself!

8. The three-pipe thing takes ages to wax though. A five minute trip to Boredom City please, Mr Programmer.

9. The Level Three guardian (a giant who makes the screen shake when he thumps the floor?) is quite a challenge. Get up really close and try to jump over his fire, whilst rattling your shots in.

10. There's a shock in store for you when you dispatch the final fiend (Madame Q herself). You'll have to find out what for yourself! And that's about the long, the short and the floppy of it.

Graphics are reasonable, viewed through a letterbox window, and sound is OK, though the title tune grates a bit.

The problem is that much of it is just too easy. As with Final Fight, you get enough outcomes to comfortably get through the first three levels (out of four) on your first go, and should be able to complete the whole thing, given commitment, in a couple of days. Oh, well...

It's nice-looking and a bit different. Unfortunately, there's just not enough of a long-term challenge to see it through.

Try to finish it!

Graphics 65%
Nowhere near as detailed as most games today.

Sonics 54%
Pretty mediocre, to be honest, irritating title tune.

Grab Factor 52%
Looks good, but plays like a Type-ins reject!

Staying Power 59%
Finish it, and then forget about it.

Overall 63%
Pretty disappointing. Thunderjaws has its moments, but mostly it's just too slow and repetitive.