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Drugs. They're not big and they're not clever, even in 1996. However, Miguel Tardiez thinks different. He's holed himself up in the old Alcatraz compound with tons of the stuff and no desire to come out. You, being all crack, have to go in after him, blow up his stash and get the man himself.

As you might expect, this isn't just a case of popping in and asking him nice and politely. If he could please stop being illegal. First of all, you have to find your way into the barracks building, in a horizontally-scrolling section. Baddies come aggressively at you from all sides armed with guns, knives and flame-throwers, and you have to disarm them with whatever weapon you can get from them. Guns are best, but they're noisy and the chances are that they're going to attract other guards, which isn't really a particularly brilliant idea if you want to stay in one piece.

Once you're inside, it's time to roam miles of corridors - first of all, your task is to find a report which condemns the traffickers - though that really does seem a bit pointless when you're going to kill most of them anyway - then the drug stocks, and finally a paper money cache. This section is set in first person perspective. Rounding a corner often brings a nasty into view, who is inevitably firing at you without any visible sign of compunction. So you, of course, must shoot back at them without hestitating to question what reason you have to take a life. Once you've found the right rooms, you need to leave time bombs in them. After a bit more corridor shuffling, it's time to get into the cell houses where Tardiez is skulking. Because they're locked, you have to scale the side of the buildings - on a rope, obviously. This section involves dodging the enemy's spotlight by moving up or down the rope appropriately.

Finally, once you've made Tardiez promise never ever to do it again, it's a quick sprint back to the waiting island and home for tea and stirring war stories.

Considering how long it took to develop Alcatraz, it's a massive disappointment. It's simply a collection of uninspiring subgames. The graphics are dark, moody and well drawn, the samples are passable, but the gameplay's turgid. It's also very, very difficult, even on the Easy level. But the best thing you can do to this game is say no.

1. Immensely difficult, even with four lives and four sub-lives each.
2. Collection of sub-games which play remarkably like a collection of sub-games.