Star Slayer is an intergalactic bounty hunter, hired by the Galactic Federation to infiltrate colonies which have been overrun by GAP 'the scum' - baddies, presumably.

Star Slayer must negotiate the flick-screen colony, shooting enough baddies to earn the necessary bounty for teleportation to the next colony.

Mr Slayer is accompanied by his rotund robot, Stardroid, who fires in unison with his master, and can collect extra armour and ammo en route to increase his efforts and prolong his single life.

This pallid Cybernoid clone provides a reasonable blast for one or two goes, but soon grows tiresome. You're constantly attacked by hordes of scummy types and death arrives all too swiftly, if you aren't careful.

Those who enjoy mapping are well catered for, and the mindless blasters will have a field day. If you like a bit more substance to your games, though, take a gander elsewhere.

Overall 50%

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More nonsense from Silverbird I'm afraid; Hopper Copper follows the unlikely scenario of a policeman whose only option, when faced with a dangerous gang of thugs, is to give chase on a children’s Space Hopper.

Set in a small town, a map of which is displayed on the inlay, the player's task is to try and defeat the gang by bouncing on them, knocking them unconscious, and leaving them to be picked up by the local gendarmerie.

The streets scroll past horizontally, and pushing up or pulling down at a junction enters roads at right angles to the one you're on, a little like Laurel And Hardy (if you were mad enough to buy it) or Deathwish (ditto).

This simple gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, and there are very few frills, or thrills, along the way. Simple game, simple graphics, simply awful.

Something of a first, this rugby game on the C64. And about time too. While it isn't the prettiest thing you've ever seen, International Rugby does prove to be reasonably playable.

Really though it's little different in style from the many American Football games on the market with the ball being thrown at the snap of the button and the perspective only changing when the ball is kicked over the bar. More for the Tongans amongst you than the All Blacks we'd say.

One of the best features of the two releases that appeared on the FTL label published by Gargoyle was Rob Hubbard's music.

The game took the shape of a vertical shoot-'em-up and really looks a bit dated now when you compare it to the likes of I.O., Armalyte and Katakis. Oh no, you can't compare it to Katakis any more, can you?

This was Thalamus' first game released way back when Andrew 'Suedehead' Wright was running it. It was also Stavros Fasoulas' debut shoot-'em-up and a pretty good effort it was too.

Ten levels of testing blasting with some diverting bonus screens in between. Add to that some very smooth parallax and bright, clean-looking graphics and you have the re-release of the month by a long way.

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Another original from Hewson's budget label though it has to be said it owes much to Zynaps. That's no mean recommendation either, and honour is maintained in one of the slickest budget shoot-'em-ups we've seen since, ooh, CU's very own giveaway next month Exceleron. A shameless plug, we know.

Getting back to Slayer, it's a left-to-right scroller with gallons of flying nasties, snakes, some particularly large sprites and exquisite backdrops. Pick up extra weaponry including multiples which neatly revolve around the ship. There's some nice motherships at the end of each level too.

What more can we say? Er, wow, erm Cheapo of the Month. Buy it! Enjoy it!

This is something of a vehicular shoot-'em-up for Datsun drivers we're afraid, though not really in the Road Blasters mould. In fact, you're competing in an illegal car race.

However, there's more faults in this than an Irish kit car. The gameplay screen is confined to a strip about the width of a Radio 1 sun visor. Add to that fiddly car control and dull gameplay and you're better off saving your money for something else.

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This is quite a departure for the Rack-It label, in that it's absolutely dire. Set inside some futuristic oil installation or other, the aim of the game is to negotiate the maze-like series of pipes which have been inhabited by all manner of alien creatures.

One such alien scurries along the network, dropping glowing bombs along the way. If left unattended the bombs explode, destroying the current ship. The aim is therefore to travel along the pipes, collecting the bombs and attempting to destroy the bomb-dropping aliens before they can drop any more.

Bomber aliens are destroyed by several blasts from your laser, while the other marauding beings simply switch direction whenever shot. If any alien touches your ship you're destroyed, and if all the bombs aren't collected before the timer runs out, it's goodnight Vienna.

As with previous Rack-It releases, presentation is good, scrolling is smooth, the animation decent and the soundtrack excellent. Unfortunately, the gameplay is awful. It's fiddly, frustrating and decidedly dull. A great incentive to start saving, this...