Compilation tapes are all the rage now, with two major releases out this month. The success of the Softaid compilation was not missed by the software houses, it seems.

I can't help being concerned about these tapes, I must admit though. I don't understand the economics of a game that takes a team of programmers six months to write only having a shelf life of two months! If you can get a comparatively new game on a compilation with four or five others for less than the original price of one then why bother buying new games at all?

If you lot did decide to do just that, it would be bad news for the software houses who would lose the revenue they need to pay the programmers' wages.

Whether it's good news for the software companies remains to be seen but, one thing is for sure... In the short term at least, it's good news for the games players.

Now Games is the best compilation tape to be launched yet with two Commodore User Screenstar games on it and four other excellent titles as well.

Best game on the tape is Beyond's Lords Of Midnight. This game dragged the war game out of the boring realm of moving armies around maps and juggling with statistics.

The land of Midnight is vividly created with text and graphics. You actually move through it in your battle against Doomdark thanks to a new programming technique developed especially for the game - Landscaping.

Second Screenstar game is Strange Loop - one of the best arcade adventures launched this year. A deserted space factory is completely out of control.

You have to explore the hundreds of different rooms collecting objects that you will need to solve some of the puzzles.

There are three other excellent arcade adventures on the tape - Brian Bloodaxe from The Edge, Mikrogen's Pyjamarama, Tales Of The Arabian Nights from Incentive and the super-fast shoot-'em-up - Falcon Patrol II.

At £8.95, Now Games is just too good value for money to be missed. Buy it now.