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After saving the world from nuclear holocaust in Fire And Forget, you're back on the road in the sequel, on the trail of known terrorists seeking to disrupt the Third International Peace Conference. This time you're behind the wheel of Thunder Master II, an 850 hp bright red customised car complete with phasers, missiles and the useful ability to fly.

Your new mission is to chase the terrorists' convoy, overtaking or destroying the large assortment of enemies, in order to reach the lead vehicle which carries "the ultimate weapon". A counter at the top of the screen displays the distance between you and this vehicle, and at full speed (240mph) it doesn't take long to catch it.

Once you're there, a barrage of missiles and phasers soon dispatches it to the electronic graveyard, leaving you to battle on into the next level.

You control your vehicle with the normal driving game joystick layout, and the Return key toggles you between ground and flight modes. It's this flying option which updates the gameplay from the original, but although it's the game's main gimmick it's not a big enough change to make the challenge anything new. The plot sounds complex, but in reality it's a run-of-the-mill shoot-'em-up - a very familiar and unforgivably easy one at that.

The graphics employed for the horizontal movement of your Thunder Master II are the most detailed and best animated in the game, although the effect is less impressive when you're flying. The road itself scrolls super-smoothly at all speeds, but the roadside sprites are disappointingly small and badly defined.

The enemies are nicely detailed and of reasonable size, but they're poorly animated and move down the road so fast you hardly see them. It's the still screens between levels and in the introduction that steal the show, with some superb drawings and brilliant use of colour that add some greatly needed atmosphere to the game.

Fire And Forget 2 is sadly lacking in the sound department. The ST sound chip music does its best to make you loathe it with its constant repetitive melodies, and the sampled spot effects - while noisy - are not very impressive.

The hype on the packaging and in the accompanying manual promise more than they deliver, and you can't help thinking that somebody's missed an opportunity for a good game. The big problem is that the game runs too fast: spot something on the horizon and three milliseconds later you've run it over. If the programmers had slowed it up we'd at least have been able to admire the graphics, but really what you're getting for your money is the original game repackaged to today's standards, which can't hide the substandard playability. Fire And Forget 2 is a nice try but falls at the most important hurdle, gameplay.