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Ah, yes the romance and the fun of urban violence. Oh, I remember it well. Walking through a subway in Gants Hill through a pool of blood, being surrounded by flick knife wielding yobs, being chased by skinheads. What a laugh.

So how come a game about being set upon by gangs of chain wielding, knife throwing thugs is so funny and entertaining? Maybe I'm sick - you should hear my ferry disaster jokes sometime. Renegade is my favourite arcade beat-'em-up (or was until someone with an even sicker sense of humour programmed that king of the goolie crunchers Double Dragon!).

When I saw Renegade in August it was impossible to tell just what it was going to be like. The hastily mocked up screen shots didn't promise much, and now to tell you the truth, whilst improved they don't do the coin-op justice. Thankfully, the gameplay does.

Let's go back to beginning and remind ourselves just why everyone wants to beat the hell out of us. Well, you've rather foolishly agreed to meet your girlfriend in a dodgy area. Maybe she doesn't love you after all. Getting the tube train, you're immediately assailed by a gang of grebo-like thugs, all intent on kicking your bodily organs about. There's only one thing for it - fight. The option to run, which appears infinitely more appealing is not there.

Good job you went to all those karate classses. If the only thing you'd ever fought before was a cold, you'd be in well and truly in it. Goodbye honey, hello hospital food.

There's five energy-sapping levels of scum stomping before you get to meet your sensible girlfriend. Clear each group of punks and you'll have to face the gang leader to continue. Just look at what you can expect.

Level 1: The Subway: Gangs of punks and blokes with crowbars. The boss isn't such a toughie though.

Level 2: The Waterfront: Rancid bikers try and mow you down, and when you've dealt with them there's more punks and a bald boss with a ponytail.

Level 3: Downtown. Yikes, you're assailed by wicked women and huge fat cow. Can you hit a girl? You'd better start.

Level 4: Shopping Precinct. And the razors are out! One slice, and it's blood transfusions for you.

Level 5: The Interior: Where the big boss waits to blow you away.

Ocean have got it all in there and in one clean load too. Whilst the graphics and animation aren't brilliant, they're not by any means bad.

Renegade does play extremely well though and you'll be struggling and cursing with this for hours, mind you that's not just because it's addictive - it is, but it's also very hard. Harder than the coin-op in fact. I'm still struggling to get past Big Bertha, something I can easily accomplish on the real thing. Still, you want it to last, don't you?

As a slice or urban violence, Renegade fits the bill nicely. It could have been better I feel. I would particularly like to have a few more effects, even if they couldn't manage the speech. As conversions go this still takes some beating - literally and metaphorically.