Zap-Pak is a novel idea - two games on one disc at a budget price.

As usual I pressed Shift-Break to boot the disc, only to be greeted with a nasty crunching sound: the disc is 40-track only. I find this most surprising - making a 40/80 disc is so easy, as Chris Nixon's article in the April 1987 issue of The Micro User demonstrated. After all, not every 80-track drive has a switch for 40-track emulation.

At the flick of said switch I was presented with a simple but effective loading screen featuring the Players logo and small diagrams ofthe two games.

The first game, Killapede, is a Centipede variant: Shoot the multi-segmented Killapede and the mushrooms through which it scurries, while avoiding bouncing spiders and mushroom-laying bugs.

The game makes good use of colour, and has a useful option of redefining the keys, but that's about it. Other than a catchy title tune, sound effects are virtually non-existent.

The graphics of all the major players - spider, bugs and your own character - leave a lot to be desired.

Not only is Killapede a poor example of Centipede on the BBC Micro, it's also a poor example of programming advancements in four years.

The other game, Cavey, sets you in prehistoric times, as a caveman of that name. The idea is to grab the spears lying around and throw them at the pterodactyls hovering above.

You certainly have your work cut out, for your flapping foes are dead shots with lumps of rock. The task is doubly difficult because you must avoid the rain of rocks and also your own falling spears. Isaac Newton has a lot to answer for!

The graphics are cute, and the sound effects add that little bit extra. The only niggle is that the game's redefined characters are stored incorrectly for the Master to display them as intended.

As far as this compilation goes, Cavey should be recompiled in some other location - Killapede should simply be disassembled.

Hac Man