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Out on the far edge of the universe, the mighty space dictator Gylend is doing what mighty space dictators do: conquering galaxies by the space-truck load. Inevitably Earth falls under his gaze and next thing you know our planet is under attack from all manner of aliens. Seven Earth Commandos are sent into the enemy complex to destroy Gylend, but things soon go wrong and five are captured and each thrown into a different time zone. Only Yohan and Ben are left to save Life, the Universe and Everything.

On the C64 the Time Soldiers take turns to slaughter Gylend's minions, simultaneous play apparently being too hard to implement. The warriors start in the Primitive Era blowing away cavemen and dinosaurs leading up to confrontations with, first the Minor Bosses, then (drum roll...) the Big Boss (and we mean *Big*!) who must be beaten to release a hostage. Redcoated followers of Gylend carry special weapons and bonus items with them, i.e. Tri-Shoot, Missile and Laser weapons or a warrior speed-up or weapon power-up bonus. The weapons have limited ammo so don't go mad on the old fire button!

Using the teleportation unit found in each zone, the Time Soldiers can, at will, take the battle through time to the other zones. Ancient Rome, Medieval Japan, a World War III battlezone and the Future era all have their own time-specific defences and guardians for rubbing out our heroes. If all five comrades are eventually rescued from each time zone, Gylend then puts in a personal appearance for The Final Conflict.

I'm a sucker for a good, unsubtle blast and Time Soldier is a coin-op particularly close to my heart. Bags of graphic variety spread over six different worlds will all-out carnage just can't be beat, and the C64 game brings it home in respectable form.

I guess because of hardware limitations we have to put up with alternate play rather than simultaneous, to keep the number of on-screen sprites at a reasonable number (although I seem to recall Ikari Warriors didn't suffer at all with two warriors on screen).

The backdrops are different for each level, a little pale in colour perhaps but good at representing the relevant era, it's left to the Guardians to really show off the professionalism of the conversion.

Some of them are very large indeed, fast moving and boasting some great detail. Thank god the Time Soldier sprite is a satisfyingly speedy warrior! (Pity the same can't be said about the multi-load!)

This is one mean game, and starting off with a weapon as effective as a peashooter doesn't help. With plenty of enemy bullets flying around, death comes very quickly until you work out the patterns and - most especially - where the vital red aliens are.

Once you've got the weapons they drop, you can fight back, progressing through increasingly impressive levels with some great 'boss' monsters.

Unfortunately, the game is severely handicapped by thoughtlessness, from the niggling pause when you die, to having to reload the entire game after losing all your lives. If you can put up with this, Time Soldier is good fun, but for cassette owners in particular it might be too frustrating.

Presentation 65% Smart start-up sequence, 1 or 2 alternate player option. Very bad multi-load though.

Graphics 79% Some excellent Guardian sprites, very smooth scrolling but the backdrops aren't particularly exciting.

Sound 79% Title tune, pacey start sequence tune with a chorus of standard but above average in-game spot effects.

Hookability 79% Very easy to get into an immediately satisfying to play but multi-load irritating.

Lastability 77% A tough nut to crack with a very fast pace to the game, merciless enemy attacks and six different warzones to hold the attention.

Overall 79% A great coin-op looks good on the C64 too.