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Occasionally - about five times a month - a game appears with a scenario which has more holes than a Tetley's tea bag. Mr. Heli maintains this tradition: An evil scientist named simply 'The Muddy' and his minions are destroying all life or a verdant little planet, and it is your duty as number one Cosmic Heli Patrol pilot to unmask the Muddy and restore the ecological balance.

One of the major ways of restoring the ecological balance is to blast your way through huge chunks of rock and earth by bomb, bullet and missile. Methinks Greenpeace might not approve.

As a Comic Heli Patrol pilot, you fly a Cosmic Heli Patrol helicopter, which resembles a cute helicopter with feet. Muddy's minions also resemble helicopters, although in a variety of sizes and guises. The smaller ones are fairly easy to dispatch, whilst the larger ones will require a number of bullets, or a missile. The missile is the quickest way to get rid of them, but involves getting underneath the enemy as initially you can only fire missiles vertically, which is made more difficult by the claustrophobic terrain. The worst enemy helicopters are the large white ones, which upon contact make a significant drain on your energy resources, bringing death ever closer. Add to this, the enemy gun installations, and the odds are firmly stacked against you.

Fortunately, the Heli-Gods must've been smiling when they fitted your rotors and cute feet, because you aren't entirely defenceless. As stated, you begin with a vertically firing missile and forward facing gun, but along the way the option to 'power up' your weapons arises. By blasting away chunks of rock, you will reveal crystals of various sizes, which, if collected, will increase the money in your bank account. Shops in the form of wall plaques will also be revealed by blasting, and providing you have enough money in the bank, flying over these will increase your weaponry.

Initially I wasn't too impressed with Mr. Heli, as I felt that, although it was entertaining enough, the gameplay was very slow and awkward. Over time, however, and once you have the hang of blasting the rocks and collecting crystals, the addictiveness begins to eat away at your trigger finger. The graphics are attractive and colourful, and perfectly suitable for the job. The sound is great, with an attractive helicopter whirring sound, a satisfying explosion whenever you kill an enemy, and a brilliant little tune to boot.

My one gripe is that it is a little slow, both in the rate of scrolling, and the speed of your ship, which, when you can't move out of the way of an enemy who has just materialised simply because you were too close to it, does add to the frustration. Minor gripes aside, it is an addictive little shoot-'em-up and another great game from those programmers at Probe.