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Vertical shooters are my favourite video game genre so I was excited (to say the least!) to try out the new demonstration version of Warhawk. I can't wait to play the finished version!

Warhawk Next is a remake of the 1986 game of the same name which was available on the C64, Amstrad CPC & Atari but not the Spectrum (which was strange - most Firebird budget games were released on the Spectrum back in the day). It even saw a release on the Atari ST. Magazine reviews at the time, especially the Commodore 64 ones like Zzap!64 rated the game quite highly scoring it 80% overall. Amstrad Action however thought the CPC version was below average scoring it 49% overall.

Most notable about the game from 1986 is the music by Composer Rob Hubbard. A homebrew version of the game was made for the Nintendo DS involving some of the same developers as the 1986 game release.

It received a Retro Gamer Remake of the Month Award in 2009. WarHawk Next is a new game by a new team of developers. It is the first time the WarHawk game has appeared on a Spectrum.

I recently saw a video uploaded in the Spectrum Next group of a very early version with a ship and a star field scrolling down the screen. To say it's come a long way since then is an understatement. Before the game has even started I'd like to mention how cool the loading screen is. It starts off loading in an 8-bit Spectrum style screen shortly followed by a Next screen. Maybe in an effort to show how much superior the Next is graphically compared with the Spectrums of old.

Whatever the reason it works very nicely. The title screen rotates through welcome text, control options, high score table and credits. You have the option to use a Joystick, the preset keyboard controls or a redefined version of them.

The high score table contains the names of developers involved with the game and the great thing about it is that your score is saved and kept even if you turn everything off. Credits are shown for this game and the original it's based on. When you start there are no lives as such, instead your ship has an energy level, just like my favourite vertical shooter, 1943. Any energy you have remaining at the end of each level is added to your score.

Enemies come in all shapes, sizes and colours, with many diverse attack patterns for each level, firing bullets a plenty more often than not. I'm not a fan of the so-called shooters where enemies fire very few bullets, if any at all. Even if the enemies in many classic games, like Jetpac, don't. In my mind it's not much of a firefight if only you can fire and this is one of many areas where Warhawk excels. Not only are there bullets but I counted at least a dozen different types of bullets with their own attack patterns, and not just from the bosses.

The number of small enemies appearing on the screen at the same time, along with all these bullets, with no slow down at all, is quite astounding.

On the ground there are plenty of details to admire and ground targets to blast. The most likeable thing about it is that enemies and bullets are not camouflaged from the players view at all, so no unfair deaths in this one. I've only discovered a single power-up so far, but, boy, is it bad ass!

Auto-fire doesn't seem that great until you're using it and then your eyes light up (like when Richter thought he was machine gunning the hell out of Arnie in Total Recall!) and I really like the idea that you keep the powered-up weapon until you get hit.

This means really adept players can keep it for an eternity. At the end of each level the boss toggles between either an average size, guided, bullet-spewing boss or a big, bad, screen-filling, armed-to-the-hilt boss, with main gun and side arms.

For a demo this title has quite a bit of polish. It's all in the little details, like the ability to skip past almost any sequence at the press of a button. Games that don't give the player this ability, especially in a fast-paced shoot em up, are a personal bugbear of mine and maybe quite a few other people too.

Graphics are very well done for enemies and ground details. It has a bit of a C64 with sharper resolution look about it. Audio has a lovely version of the Rob Hubbard tune from the original 1986 game which sits quite nicely with the blasting and exploding spot effects.

A shooter that has almost everything you'd expect a decent shooter to have, and more.

The level of difficulty is finely balanced. It doesn't frustrate at all, instead you find you just want one more go to beat your previous high score. That one more go quickly turns into Groundhog Day territory.

Nothing at all. I could say maybe a few more power-ups would be great but that's splitting hairs more than a dislike, and even if the auto-fire is the only power up, I love it enough not to need any more.

I've seen a few games on the Speccy Next and quite frankly some of them are a bit pants. Warhawk is right at the other end of the scale. It is a most excellent shooter with enough dazzle and playability to be regarded in my opinion as the number one flagship title for the Next.