Four Great Games II is the latest budget compilation from Tynesoft. I wouldn't necessarily agree that the collection qualifies for the accolade 'Great'.

The four included are a pretty mixed bunch - but there should be something on offer here, to entertain or amuse a good many.

Mouse Trap is a traditional platform game. You must guide Marvin the ravenous mouse through 22 screens to sniff out his favourite nibble, cheese.

Naturally, is isn't going to be made easy for you and all sorts of hazards and obstacles must be overcome including dragons, flying fried eggs, toilet rolls and Christmas puddings.

In each screen you must collect what appear to be flasks in order to gain access to the next one. The final one holds the giant wedge of golden cheese.

Mice and cheese are a slight departure from the more usual explorers and games, but Mouse Trap is hardly original. Despite being detailed in the packaging blurb as featuring "incredible" graphic animation, the graphics are only average and the sound - a continuous waiting discordant tune - is poor. It is nonetheless playable and pretty tricky too.

Space Hawk is a well put together vertically scrolling space shoot-'em-up. There's not much plot, just pure unadulterated.

Flying the gunship Zebra you have to earn your stripes by exploring the planets in the neighbouring Solar System. The Star Council has given you licence to kill any hostile aliens, should you encounter them, and destroy their defences.

Naturally you come across millions of the little devils and of course they are all hostile - well, I certainly never met a friendly one.

You have the ability to fly both up and down, and can also adjust your speed - which can make for some pretty tricky manoeuvring. Despite the ostensibly peaceful nature of your Solar System exploration, the actuality means that you must shoot anything that moves and just about anything that doesn't. Captain Kirk would not have approved, I'm sure.

You start with a shield strength of 25 points which is gradually eroded by collisions with the kamikazi enemy space ships, each hit knocking off one point. To get to the next level, the grounded space fleet must be destroyed, together with a substantial proportion of ground installations. The graphics are up to standard and the sound adequate, if not exactly stunning, making Space Hawk a good and pleasing game.

I played Who Dares Wins II last May and playing it again now, my opinion of it hasn't improved. Armed with a rifle and a dozen hand grenades you have to single-handedly defeat the enemy.

Working your way through a rather dismal landscape you must dodge lollipop trees, ponds and bullets on your way to the first enemy garrison.

If you beat off its defences you will gain access to the next level for a bit more of the same.

An extra life is awarded for each 10,000 points scored, but Who Dares Wins II didn't hold my interest long enough to get that far. The pace is rather too slow, graphics poor and sound irritating in the extreme.

Killa Cycle is altogether different. The visual presentation is simplistic to say the least, and the plot absolutely minimal - just stay alive. It's for one or two players, with optional computer controlled opposition making the numbers up to four.

Pressing Start clears the screen and four coloured lines appear, each moving at a steady pace. The computer-controlled lines move by their own volition and you control the direction and speed of your own, leaving a solid coloured trail in your wake.

Neither you nor your opponents can move across any trail and the objective is to keep moving without crashing - hitting a trail means instant oblivion.

With four players this soon becomes pretty tricky and careful co-ordinations is necessary to keep going in the tightest corners.

Plater who crash disappear from the screen, together with their trail making more space available to the survivors. The last survivor is awarded maximum points and the others get points on a decreasing scale.

This game continues until a preset total is reached. There are seven different screen layouts, rotated in turn with all but the first having blocks or small mazes to make life even more difficult.

Although it's a simple game in concept and presentation, I found it surprisingly enjoyable, competitive and addictive - although quite where cycles come into it, I don't know.

At the price, Four Great Games II has to be good value for money.