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Ole! Fancy being England's answer to El Cordoba? You do? Then now's your chance with Firebird's latest cheapo offering, Raging Beast. So grab your cloaks, you micro matadors, and here we go.

When the game has loaded you are presented with an impressive screen showing a matador bravely tackling a fierce bull. Underneath is proclaimed, "El major de la plaza", which, I am reliably informed, means The King of The Ring. And how pleased I was when my name was proudly slotted into one of these screens only to be told that this one meant The King of the Hospital.

The actual game is quite tricky to get the hang of, but being a cool dude, I was soon defeating those steak sandwiches by the dozen. And before anyone boycotts this game because of cruelty to animals don't bother, there just isn't any.

The object of the is to dodge the bull with the aid of your trusty red cloak earning points and surviving until a ring is thrown from the crowd which you have to place around the bull's neck. This may sound easy but with five hundred pounds of beer chasing after you, believe me, it isn't.

To lure the bull nearer to you, you may wave the cloak. But this gets him real mad! If you wave it enough the bull will scrape his foot across the ground before hurtling towards you at high speed.

Dodging el torro is easy enough but if and when you are caught you may not get away for the bull seems to take great pleasure in tossing you about like a rag doll and then crushing you like a grape. When this happens, out come the stretchers - looks like your matador days are over. Oh well, there's always the next game!

Sometimes (only sometimes mind you) the bull feels generous and lets you up, or even accidentally knocks you onto his back. And you can earn some extra points by staying on as long as possible.

After taking a bit of a bashing on Raging Beast I desperately wanted to beat the first bull. Neither graphics nor sound are spectacular but Firebird must score full marks for originality and value.