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Oh no! A series of disasters have befallen a space exploration colony and in a bizarre twist of inexplicable fate, the robots have turned against their masters and now rule the colony - imprisoning any humans they find!

The Earth authorities are more than a bit annoyed to say the least. Previous attempts to liberate the colony have ended in failure - the robotic defences are just too strong for even the most highly trained men. For a situation this dangerous, a superhero is required - a superhuman being like Low-G Man for instance. He may not have superhuman strangth, but Low-G Man makes a mockery of Newton's laws of physics by being able to jump massive heights and land softly, rather than being transformed rather violently into an ambarrassing red mess. He's also trained in the use of super-effective military hardware - just the ticket for blasting the seven shades out of those mad robotic scum!

Each level is made up of three sub-levels. The first two are expansive eight-way scrolling landscapes with a mini-guardian at the end of each, who are just waiting for some low-gravity japery. The third sub-level pits the almost weightless wonder against a truly massive (sometimes over a screen big) guardian, just itching to knock the smelly stuff out of our high-jumping chum!

Pressing START on the joypad brings up the extra weapons select screen. Provided you've stocked up on the appropriate weapons icons, it's possible to select any of these weapons at any time for use against the robot menace.

Deadly boomerangs, bombs and fireballs are just three of the weapons available for slapping those deranged robots about.

This sort of specialised hardware is also just the ticket for damaging some of the game's more powerful guardians.

Low-G Man's usual form of taking out robotic scum involves stunning them first with his massive zap gun. After this, Low-G's next priority is to jump atop the disabled robot and pierce it with his massive spike.

After a couple of well-placed prods, the robot explodes, possibly releasing a bonus icon - hurrah!

All manner of robot-commanderred mobile military hardware is in pursuit of Low-G Man. However, he fights back by disabling the transport with his zap gun and spiking the driver.

After that, he can jump in and drive about to his heart's content making use of the vehicle's superior weaponry - but watch out for the rapidly diminishing fuel level!

Low-G Man looked like rather a pathetic effort when I first loaded it up into our trusty NES. The sound is rather grating and the graphics look pretty gaudy. This isn't made any better owing to the jerky scrolling.

But for some strange reason I found the low-gravity action really enthralling. I think it's perhaps because the game's difficulty level is set at just the right level. It took me about three quarters of an hour to get onto the second level, but the time spent wasn't frustrating at all.

It's also a good laugh trying out all of the different weapons and purloining the armoured transports from the robots. Low-G Man isn't an essential buy, but if you've got the cash spare, give it a whirl!

Although Low-G Man fails to deliver anything decent in the graphics and sound stakes, it's surprisingly addictive and kept me playing far longer than I had anticipated (and now I've got to work late to finish this review - boo!).

The action is fast and furious, and there's plenty of challenge, particularly when you start to take on the giant-sized end-of-level baddies! If you're after an enjoyable arcade-style game that'll keep you going for a good few weeks, check this out.

Presentation 80%
A very strange story kicks off the action and there are two skill levels and a password feature.

Graphics 69%
Pretty badly drawn on the whole, with gaudy colour schemes thrown in for good measure.

Sound 65%
Tunes that grate after a few minutes' play and sparse effects.

Playability 86%
The game is immediately addictive, with a well-judged difficulty level to keep you playing.

Lastability 81%
Loads of levels to conquer and getting to the later ones is really trying.

Overall 84%
A graphical travesty, but Low-G Man delivers in the playability department and offers plenty of thrills 'n spills.