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Big, blonde and muscular, He-Man is the subject of the latest US Gold licence. For those who haven't been introduced to the big hunk, He-Man is the guardian of all Eternia. His real identity is the wimpy Prince Adam, but once he grabs his sword of power and cries, "By the power of Grayskull!" Whoosh! He gains an instant suntan, dons his S&M leather gear, and is off to save Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor. The children's cartoon has taken the world by storm, as have the toys. So what better choice for a game?

In this particular adventure, He-Man once more has to save Eternia (his home planet) from Skeletor & Co. But it's not easy this time as Skeletor has discovered the all-powerful Ilearth Stone. The stone's magic has given him total power, and he has now overrun He-Man's home, Castle Grayskull. Your task is to destroy the stone, oh, and don't expect the happy ending in the cartoon.

The game takes the form of an arcade-adventure. As He-Man you have the power to jump and carve up baddies with your sword of power.

Destroying the stone though, is not just a question of stabbing it. First you must find and release your clumsy magician friend Orco. For only Orco's magic can turn the sword into at Atom smasher powerful enough to shatter the stone. Not only must you find Orco, you must also provide him with the correct ingredients to proceed with the spell. This is where the arcade adventure's pick up and drop formula comes in.

There is also a slight platform element in the game as there was in the likes of Antiriad. The game also bears a resemblance to the Palace hit, but is not quite as fast. Speed is probably He-Man's weakness as the action is fairly slow. For a Super-Hero, He-Man runs like his G-string's too tight.

You have four lives to complete the adventure. A life is lost by falling into a pit, water or bushes. You can also die by being shot but not just once as you have a body shield.

Masters Of The Universe is initially a nice game. But, if like me, you are suspicious of the word "nice", you'd be right. A "nice" game in this case is a fun but rather average arcade-adventure, pretty graphics and a good rendition of the He-Man theme tune. I'll have to pass this one off as a game for fans of the average arcade-adventure and He-Man freaks. It isn't bad, but the slow and fidgety gameplay means that as tanned and muscular as he may be, He-Man just doesn't have the power!