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CAPCOM IN ACID HOUSE SHOCKER!

Get down to the groovy, Acid House beat with this Oriental beat-'em-up. Tory MP Ivan Aston-Martin claims 'It's a disgrace!' (are you sure about this? - Ed) although Capcom claim the use of the infamous Smiley logo to represent lives is totally innocent.

In ancient China the ruthless Ryu Ken Oh has kidnapped some defenceless children ('It's a disgrace' - Rt Hon Aston- Martin). Martial arts expert Lee Wong sets off to rescue the kiddies. At first he has only an axe, but can exchange it for more useful weapons, like spears and sickles, by hitting special urns.

A mixture of horizontally-scrolling levels and small rooms must be completed before you meet Mr Oh himself. Some of these are populated by hordes of sword-swinging minions, while others contain more ruthless opponents which can kill with a single blow. Some extra-large baddies can grab Lee and throw him for a fatal fall.

Animation of the fighters is very basic - no matter where you hit an opponent, the 'hit' always shows up on his neck. Colour is also used only in layers across the screen, although this is far better than monochrome. Nonetheless, the game has a sloppy appearance - the one vertically-scrolling level is appalling (the hero just floats upwards as decapitated dragons' heads chase him).

Gameplay is also poor, simply consisting of bashing baddie after baddie. Even the larger opponents can be easily despatched by repetitive slashing ('Disgusting!' - Mrs Whitehouse). Still, allegations that playing this at 2am, while sniffing smelly socks, produces hallucinations have been tested and proved totally false.

PHIL ... 45%

THE ESSENTIALS Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: jerky sprites on dull, usually yellow, backgrounds Sound: fair oriental tune, but dull in-game effects

'There's a fair variety of fair aggressive opponents with different attack methods, quite a few different weapons to deal with them and a passable tune. Unfortunately the largely monochromatic graphics are poorly drawn and move jerkily. Given the complete lack of originality, the repetitive gameplay and the ease with which it is completed this seems something of a waste of time. While not a terrible game, it has little to attract potential buyers.'