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Shaolin Master is the second of Quickbeam's games reviewed this issue and is a version of the two-player Kung-Fu games so often found in pubs, amusement arcades, etc. The game can be played by one player against a rather deadly computer opponent or two players can play each other (which gives this game one good point already).

The game is in two sections, there's the duel between you and an opponent, and then there's the rather gimmicky corridor of death in which you run down a corridor kicking and jumping various large spiky objects.

The game, rather like real Kung-Fu, needs practice before one can become deadly at it. The controls are a nightmare to start with but, like driving a car, after a while they become natural, even second nature. However, to give you an idea of what you're letting yourself in for, the game has the ability to jump up, high punch, move right, low punch in kneeling position, duck, back somersault, move left, forward somersault, stand up, drop kick, high kick, medium kick, low kick, forward leg sweep, back leg sweeps turn around, high back kick, and low back kick, and all these operations are performed with one joystick!

The graphics are as excellent as those of 6809 Express (and that's pretty good!) but the game is about thirty times as hard, and thirty times as interesting.

Now for some nit picking. The game comes in an attractive cassette box but the instructions are on a separate printed leaflet. Although this seems like a good idea at the time, there should be a re-print of the joystick configurations on the inside of the case along with what each can do, as I managed to lose my sheet three days after receiving the game and thus rendered the game inoperative until I found it two months later!

Also, the collision detection routine needs some work; it's all too easy for you to see your figure kick the other guy squarely in the groin only to find that you've actually done no damage to him whatsoever! And then, to add insult to injury, the demon computer assassin will knock you flat with a flying axe-kick three inches away from you! I exaggerate, of course, but please, and this goes for all programmers, remember that all we have to judge by is what we can see on the screen!

To sum up then, a really good game. Let's hope Fire Force is just as good, because it will surely establish Quickbeam - who now have Wayne Smithson working for them, and he is a good programmer - as one of the market leaders.