Some of the very best C64 games were written when the computer was still young enough to be bounced on Commodore's corporate knee. The C64 played them a lot, but like all young children it would never put anything away properly, and left them all lying in the garden. As the years passed, these games, fondly known as the 'classics', slowly disappeared. They appeared to be lost forever.

Now it seems, that, like a good mum, Beau Jolly have been going around after the C64 tidying up. The proof of this is Big Box 2, a collection of the kind of 'special games' that the C64 got for Christmas and birthdays.

Big Box 2 contains some of the titles that allowed the C64 to leave all other games machines trailing in its wake; games that looked good, sounded fantastic and played brilliantly. Sure enough, some of the games gathered here look their age, but few of them feel it when you start playing.

Not all the games in the Big Box are brillant - some would fit in well at a certain animal refuge located near Battersea, but most (at least 20 of the 30 in the collection) are examples of true classic gameplay. We're talking games coded by the very best of the best, folk like Jeff Minter, Graftgold and Incentive.

The case against BB2 would argue that ten of the games are of average quality, that there's a distinct bias in favour of arcade shoot-'em-ups (particularly Defender-clones) and that the graphics are old-fashioned. In its defence, though, are 20 absolutely cracking games all with 'classic tags' (and in these days when the word 'classic' is so mis-used, it's come to mean next to nothing I'm here reinstating it to its former glory), and a frighteningly good manual [in a compilation? Never! - Dave] all for £17! It's outrageously good value - check it out now!

It's the old good game, bad game routine! Here's CF'd guide to what's the best of a bright bunch. Five stars is a Golden Oldie, no stars is a Mouldy Oldie.

Mega Apocalypse *****
Lords Of Midnight *****
Split Personalities *****
Guardian 2 **
Dan Dare ****
Cauldron 2 *****
Barbarian 2 ****
Delta ***
Zoids *****
Sanxion *****
Que-Dex *****
Hunter's Moon ****
Snare ****
Driller *****
Heat Seeker ***
Ocean Conqueror *
Firelord ***
Battle Valley ****
Anarchy ****
Defenders Of The Earth ***
Alley Kat ****
Eliminator ***
Gribbly's Day Out ****
Insects In Space ***
Iridis Alpha *****
Thunderforce *
Eagles **
Maze Mania ***
Orion ****
Tunnel Vision **

1. Twenty excellent games
2. 56 pence per game
3. A C64 hall of fame.
4. The manual is exceptionally informative for a compilation.

1. Ten average to fairly poor titles.
2. There's an awful lot of loading to endure.