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Have you ever had that feeling of deja vu? Twelve months ago Ocean unleached their conversion of Operation Wolf on an unsuspecting public. What had they done with the biggest name in coin-ops in years? The answer, as everyone knows, is that they'd put together an extremely polished conversion, that seemed a cert for the Christmas number one slot - until that is, they followed up with Robocop, but that's another story.

So one year on, and Ocean wheel out their seasonal guns, in the shape of Taito's sequel, a twin Uzi mounted cabinet with even more happening in it than the last one. Well we know they can do it, but is there any point? The answer, uncategorically is yes, because not only is this as good a conversion as anyone has a right to expect, but in some places it's even an improvement.

In the sequel the crack Taito commando group are once again called up to defy the odds, this time by defeating a bunch of terrorists who have taken the passengers of a DC 10 hostage. What follows should be more shoot-'em-up action than any one trigger fiend can handle. So it's jsut as well that one of Operation Thunderbolt's main enhancements, faithfully retained in this conversion, is that it's a two player game. That means twice the firepower - it also adds a degree of competition, not just in staying alive and points totalling, but in chasing after extra ammunition. As you both find yourselves running low the extra clips you hit fly to the left or right, but it's possible to intercept your partner's by hitting it yourself. The bizarre sight of two people playing ping pong in the middle of a frenzied firefight is not uncommon.

If you had trouble directing the onscreen sight in the last game, don't worry, you don't get one this time! That's something of a de-enhancement if you ask me, but there again every level offers you the chance to pick up the laser sight which appears as a red dot on the screen. All the other extra weapons too, like more rockets and health bottles, but there's also a flack jacket which lessens the damage you sustain.

Operation Thunderbolt has seven levels of action which switch from horizontal sweeps, to 3D screens with your viewpoint situated in a jeep or a boat. Each is interspersed by stills which direct you as to your next objective or to the status of the game. Should you die, a dead soldier appears and the option to continue, although this is only offered three times before the game concludes.

The graphics for the arcade sequences and the stills are impeccably realised. This could be the coin-op you're looking at, except that they appear to be even better, which backs up Ocean's claim that they've improved elements. Most of the sound, miraculously is there, from spot effects like cats howling, screams and panicking hostages through to the melodramatic announcements on the still screens. All this and the disk swapping is kept to an absolute minimum.

We've seen some impressive conversions this year, but someone's going to be hard pushed to improve on this. Just about everything I can think of is there. It's tough, perhaps a touch too tough with the absence of the gunsight on screen, but if arcade machines are your lifeblood, this should keep you going for ages. Further hyperboles elude me, don't let Operation Thunderbolt elude you.