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There seems to be an unwritten rule in softwaresville that says: "If it's a film licence then it must be a platform shoot-'em-up". Well, you try coming up with more than a couple of exceptions to the rule. And guess what? With Lethal Weapon, we have yet another platform-based shoot-'em-up. At least this is more suited to the genre than some licences (did someone mention Cool World?) So, there's shooting, leaping, falling... and some of the least effective collision detection I've seen for many a lunar cycle. Take some advice for free, don't pause Lethal Weapon while you're standing on a moving platform you'll die!

But what of the rest of this undoubtedly big game? Well, as you'd expect from Ocean, it's competent. Graphically, it works very well on the "Cor blimmin' 'eck, that's Riggs! And look, there's Murtaugh! And I can definitely recognise a Ninja over there. And... oh, look! Look! A power-up in the shape of a lollipop! Ooooh no, it's a magnifying glass. What a duffer I am!" level - e.g. the graphics hold no surprises at all but equally, they don't let the gameplay down either.

Talking of the gameplay. that's reasonably exciting, too. You get to choose which of the two heroes you want to play. (Danny Glover has a far better haircut in my humble opinion - Mel Gibson looks like a Division Two fullback from 1983, so Danny pips it!), and each of the detectives has his own special ability as well. Riggs can jump high and is an expert at unarmed combat; Murtaugh is better with weaponry. So choose your hero and set off around the five missions you have to crack before you can put your joystick down and have a cup of tea. (That's not in the rules by the way).

Having played Lethal Weapon on Commodore's 'other machine, the one thing that you can say about the C64 version is that it certainly doesn't let you down. Despite the fact that you have to wait and wait for the multi-loads (at least there's plenty of time to rest your fire-button finger I suppose), the pace of the game itself is enough to keep your interest. Everything (aside from the comically-amusing collision detection on some of the platforms) works smoothly and without any real problems.

Basically, you have to keep your eyes open at all times, because there's plenty going on, and you have to keep going because you're playing against the clock. Luckily, there are continues, as well as energy power-ups to pick up en route. As for the film tie-in element of the game, if you screw-up your eyes and put your hands over your ears while humming the theme to the film, then you might be fooled into thinking that this game is something to do with the smash hit movies. It's all very platformy, with a shooty-jumpy element. There are loads of people to shoot at, and loads of them to shoot at you. But essentially there's nothing about this game to raise it above the run-of-the-mill. Maybe if you could've controlled Joe Pesci...?

1. Plenty of action
2. Smooth scrolling.
3. Plenty of bonuses.
4. Choice of character adds interest.

1. The collision detection is appalling.
2. Load, load, load and, er, load some more.