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Alright then, I, Ludicrus is yet another two player combat game, but the twist here is... well, actually I'm not at all sure what the twist is supposed to be.

Maybe it has something to do with the oh-so-hilarious title, or the marginally silly story in the box blurb. Or maybe it's revealed by the sampled laughter in the loading section.

Perhaps the twist is in the names: Herr Liss (a comic German opponent) Bon Dage (a comic French female opponent) or Bud Vyzr (a comic something or other). I think the twist here is that I, Ludicrus is supposed to be a comic combat game.

The thing about combat games is that there are roughly two types, those where the background changes a lot of scrolls but there isn't much variety in the fighting, and those where a series of battles are fought against a variety of enemies on roughly the same background. With I, Ludicrus you appear to get the worst of both worlds - few opponents against the same old background (i.e. a Roman-style Amphitheatre complete with emperor).

There are single player (against the computer) and two player options, the computer plays very well though, and as is usually the case, the two player option is more enjoyable.

The graphics are good - excellent, even - but the fighting style however lets it down as there aren't enough different enemies and there's never any real impression of combat.

The range of sound effects is mostly limited to sampled 'errks' and 'uggggs' when a sword thrust hits home (and speeded up 'errks' and 'uggggs' when sword thrusts hit home on your female opponent). These generally sound OK, but once again there isn't that much variety to them - one errk per opponent more or less, though the Lion roar is rather tasteful. There is some challenge in the fighting - for example, I didn't discover one or two moves which always succeeded (like in some games I could name...).

If pure combat is what attracts you, maybe this game has something going for it. If you're looking for anything else... forget it.

Almost identical to the ST, except the samples are better. This version is at least a couple of months away, and according to a CRL spokesperson, is likely to feature identical graphics, improved sound - and hopefully better playability in the process!