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What works in the arcades doesn't necessarily work in the home. You couldn't hope for a better example of this than Silkworm, drowned out by dedicated cabinets and R-Type clones, its appeal - as a straightforward unglamorous - blast was limited. On the small screen, however, it really comes into its own. Every byte is crammed full of action so explosive it can cause severe neural spasms just watching it in demo mode.

Silkworm's great novelty is that it can be played simultaneously by two players: one playing a helicopter and the other a jeep on which is mounted a heavy machine gun. The two are hardly equals, however, the 'copter being able to whizz all over the screen, while the jeep is stuck with bouncing up and down at the bottom. The idea, although it's a perfectly good game in the one player mode, is to co-operate, hence the different high score tables for the two machines.

At first glance, that might not look like an unbeatable combination for a shoot-'em-up, but it works. The arcade version is faithfully reproduced here, the graphics are sharp, the sprite detection perfect and the joystick response a joy to behold. As far as I can see there are no annoying little idiosyncrasies or bugs - and the game flows smoothly from level to level.

What makes Silkworm really outstanding, however, is the superb range of opponents for you to get around and destroy. At the bottom there's an indicator which tells you how many of the enemy you've obliterated. Each time it drops to zero, a "goosecopter" appears (That's a goose-shaped helicopter of course). Dispatch that, which is far from a doddle, and some handy little icons pop up, giving you double fire, rapid fire and so on. This considerably adds to your arsenal of firepower and you're going to need it to deal with nasties like the indestructible transport helicopter which belches out dozens of venomous autogyros, or the mole - taken straight from Thunderbirds - which, if you're not careful, burrows through your jeep, or the super-tanks bristling with ballistic missiles... you get the picture?

The sound effects are excellent too. Meaty explosions and ricochets pound your eardrums after and during each encounter. The only slightly dodgy one is a clinking sound which sounds like a sample of someone beating a frying pan with a spoon. At least in the uproar it's distinctive. On the version which I played, the game had been completed with the exception of the music. Hopefully this'll have little effect on the game other than to provide it with a nice little tune. You certainly don't feel there's anything missing without it.

The first couple of levels will lull you into a false sense of security. It's not that they're amazingly easy, but they're certainly nothing that should trouble an experienced game player. The end-of-level guardians, a supercopter and supertank, respectively, are down right easy. They may be tough, but it's only the jeep that really has any problems with their sedate firepower. Make the most of it, it won't last. By the fourth level the screen is almost constantly filled with plumes of fire, huge explosions and all size and shape of missile. At this point the shields change from begin a luxury to a necessity. They occasionally appear at random as small sparkling clouds, but most of them will have to be got by shooting out mines which are scattered sporadically around the ground. If you get a second shield, or shoot into one, you get a smart bomb. This is one of the most satisfying effects in the game, as everything on screen instantly vaporises.

The real trick of a well-constructed blast is to jack up the pace, difficulty and general sensory overload without making the game impossible or, as more often happens, just frustrating. Silkworm does this brilliantly. You don't have to be an amazingly talented game player to enjoy it, but it'll test out even the very best of you. Silkworm is also good fun, especially in the two player mode. For me and just about everyone else here this makes it about the best shoot-'em-up available on the Amiga. Highly recommended.