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Tarkus and Eugene, a friendly pair of Wheelies are on the move through a vertically scrolling landscape of strange structures and even stranger creatures. Their vocation is to rescue any fellow wheelies they come across from an eternal flat spin.

One or two players control the rolly fellows, avoiding or blasting away at any nasty they come across in the seven selectable landscapes. A gradually emptying bottle represents each Wheelie's energy, which gradually diminishes as play progresses. Contact with a hostile or its associated projectiles stuns our heroes as well as drawing large energy from each player's store.

Unless the player picks up mushrooms (which restore small quantities of energy) and red flasks (which top the bottles up), the liquid life-force will drain away completely. Should Eugene and Tarkus run into a monster when their bottles are empty, they become ex-Wheelies and the game ends.

The promise of simultaneous two-player shoot and collect-'em-up action led me to believe that Wheelies would be something worth enduring a bad title screen for.

Well, although the graphics and sound are nothing special, some of the level layouts do seem to have had some thought put into them, and the air of mild silliness made the first few games enjoyable.

The level select is a bad idea: after several games I had been able to play to the end of every level separately, and the desire to complete the whole game diminished entirely.

This has bright and colourful graphics with some very appealing characters, a one or two-player option and graded entry levels.

The only problem is that it's all too familiar: the way the graphics are drawn and behave, coupled with the derivative sound effects is far too reminiscent of a creation of the Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit - which isn't surprising, since it's been verified that huge chunks of code are exactly the same!

The only difference is an improvised title screen and some presentation details; the rest consists of uncredited Sensible Software material...

For three quid it'd be worth saving to invest in the original.

Presentation 61%
Simultaneous two-player option, and level selection make up for a poor title screen.

Graphics 47%
Jolly, but inelegant, sprites traverse reasonable backdrops.

Sound 49%
Quaint title tune and jingles. Passable spot FX.

Hookability 62%
Simple gameplay and level select make it easy to get into.

Lastability 30%
Moderately difficult, but after a few games the player has seen all the game's sights, so there's little impetus to return to it.

Overall 39%
A mediocre game which gives up its secrets rather too easily, and so loses out on long-term challenge.