What's big, red and is full of very interesting people doing interesting things? Rob Mead goes into his local Post Office, stands in the queue for the first day covers and practises saying the world "philately"

Games compilations are a bit like those "Now That's What I Call Music" albums that you can pick up, in the respect that you have to sift through an awful lot of dross before you find something even remotely worthwhile that makes you want to buy the whole album, and the Big Box 2 from Beaujolly is no exception. From shoot-'em-ups to puzzle games and arcade adventures - Beaujolly have got them all. That's all very well and good, but the real question is: are they actually any good?

Marty McFly and Doc Brown have gone back to 1885 in this licensed version of the film. There are a number of sub-games based on scenes from the film with a duck shoot, pie-throwing contest and a spot of horse-riding after a runaway wagon. There's no real excitement in this game and you feel as if you're just playing through a load of cobbled together afterthoughts, rather than a cohesive, well-thought-out game.

For example, Doc's horserace on Level One just seems to go on forever as you jump over and duck under various obstacles - this is interspersed with overhead shots of you avoiding incoming shots from cavalry and red Indians as you blunder through a canyon. To make things worse, the graphics aren't very good and the whole thing can get a bit repetitive.

This has to be a bit of a minor classic by now. Basically, you have to charge around loads of different levels and set off the bombs in a controlled way. The puzzle element of the game is what makes it so addictive. To get to the bombs you have to walk over a series of tiles which have various properties - some tiles disappear when you walk over them, while others are icy and make you slide about dangerously. It can take quite a few attempts to suss a level out - blow up the wrong bomb and you get stranded or set off a chain reaction and get killed. There's a choice of control method - joystick is best - and you can play in 2D or 3D view.

Can you help Flash Gordon and his mates save the earth from the merciless Ming? You can? Well, first you have to rescue your children from Ming's heavily defended fortress. You guide Flash around a series of levels, helped out by his pals Mandrake, Lothar, the Phantom and Zuffy. You're set upon by the usual collection of baddies and concealed weapons, and there are plenty of obstacles for you to negotiate before your energy runs out. A tricky arcade adventure which could find you throwing your ST out the window in frustration. Great fun.

This game is a cross between a shoot-'em-up, pinball and a puzzle game. You have to guide the sphere - which is really a top secret weapon on test - around a series of levels, avoiding baddies and collapsing squares, collecting power-ups and weapons on the way. The graphics are pretty good and the control mechanism - operated via the joystick - is straightforward and easy to use.

You need to develop a strategy to get round all the levels otherwise you tend to die rather more rapidly than you'd really like.

Brilliant graphics, but mind-numbingly slow gameplay characterise this tale of mob rivalry in Chicago during the 1930s. You're relegated to the position of viewer as Pinky and his cronies shoot up the opposition and chat a lot about being turfed out on your "keister". The only part you play in this cinematic program is to give an occasional click on a text bubble or to show Pinky where you'd like him to shoot someone. But, by the time he gets around to doing what you want, you're fast asleep and dreaming of the Godfather.

Thanks to some unhealthy additives in your fast food burgers, you and up to two pals can transform yourselves into B-movie monsters - Gorilla, Lizard or Wolfman - and set about ripping tower blocks to pieces and eating their inhabitants.

There are over 150 different screens of buildings for you to demolish. Watch out for the army helicopters and tanks, though, since they're determined to stop you eating your way across America.

This game is fun as far as it goes, but one level soon begins to look like another. The graphics are OK, but the joystick control method is a bit jerky and it's not as responsive as it could be. A fun afternoon's entertainment.

The poor old Caliph has been turned into a falcon and it's your job to break the spell, protect the Princess and battle monsters with one eyeball. It's all in a day's work for Sinbad. Like the King Of Chicago, Sinbad has great graphics but is curiously uninvolving. OK, so you get to sling a few stones and arrows around and sail on rock-infested waters, but it just doesn't capture your imagination. The game is controlled by simple joystick commands and it's fairly easy to get around. However, there's a lot of disk-accessing and gameplay can be tediously slow. This turkey is all style and no substance.

It's 1997 and you're a hard-bitten cop with a tough assignment. Your objective is to track down a particularly bloodthirsty alien - the Predator - bumping off as many drug-dealing hoodlums as you can in the process.

This is a reasonably good shoot-'em-up with four increasingly difficult levels set in the subways and slaughter houses of Los Angeles. The game uses a simple point-and-click interface and there is plenty of weapons, ammo and energy for you to pick up.

The graphics are good and this game is quite addictive, but it's nothing out of the ordinary.

A fast, exciting version of the old coin-op classic. You've been placed in charge of a special space fighter and it's your job to blow away as many aliens as possible. There are plenty of groovy weapons you can pick up to help you and by holding down the Fire button for a time, you can unleash extra powerful laser bolts on those hard-to-get baddies. A real stormer of a game which keeps your finger trigger-happy for hours.

This American Football sim gives you a TV viewpoint of proceedings which enables you to get in there and play when it really counts. Most of the action is controlled by your ST to a preset strategy, but you can take over at any point to control aspects of play. All movement is controlled by simple joystick commands and the game has some impressive graphics.

It's less good at holding your attention, though, and you need a lot of practice to stand a chance of producing a winning team. Great fun if you're a Grid Iron enthusiast.

So there you have it - a couple of stormers, three or four goodies and a brace of turkeys. Just like Now That's What I Call Music really, though that obviously depends what your musical tastes are. Big Box 2 is a cut above the average compilation and is great value for money.

But if you have most of the good games on this already, it's probably not worth shelling out for, unless you're really very bored during the Christmas holidays.