Four of the best for shoot-'em-up fans in Hewson's latest gathering.

Get a grip, shootie fans, th is collection is going to knock you for six. Hewson have gathered together here four excellent titles from the ace programmer Raffaele Cecco, and if you haven't got any of them yet, sit back and enjoy.

As Exolon, your task is to lumber through over 100 screens of frantic alien action, blasting and generally dealing out death as you go.

Starting off with a small hand blaster and some handy grenades, points are awarded for doing away with obstacles, small pod and large aliens, missile shells, launchers, and you'll get a whacking 3,000 points for getting into the double launchers lying around here and there.

Watch out for the pneumatic hammers and rocket gun emplacements, however, you'll be feeling very sorry for yourself if you don't. Taking it in turns to play the role of the vulnerable but athletic Vitorc, and the lumbering exoskeleton of Exolon, the action is frantic and you'll need every extra life you gain at the end of each level.

Remember Cybernoid? The pirates have made off with a large amount of Federation goodies, and it's your task to get them back in your sleek, superpowered Cybernoid ship.

Manoeuvre your way through heavy planetary defence systems to destroy the pirate ships, then get into position to pick up the falling debris.

With bombs, impact mines, defence shield, bounce bombs and seekers at your disposal, you may feel this task is a pushover.

Wrong, there's a time limit that you need to beat. If you don't make it back to the depot with the goodies in time, say goodbye to your beloved ship.

The pirates are back for more in Cybernoid II: The Revenge, and this time they've brought a Battlestar with them. It's the same procedure, with excellent scrolling graphics, but this time, you've got even more firepower to remove the pirates from the screen.

Last up is another Hewson epic: Stormlord. Your tranquil realm has been invaded by the evil queen, and if you fail in your quest to free the fairies and restore peace, then the queen's dark sovereignty will last throughout eternity.

In the first part of your mission, you will need to pick up and use various objects, such as keys, to free the fairies from their painful imprisonment. Once this is done, you can progress onto the next stage.

To get to the outermost regions of your realm, there are handy spring-boards to catapult you around, but beware of the queen's cronies that are out to get you.

Venus fly traps, huge worms, flies, dragons and many others are equally keen to see the back of you: shoot or you're doomed.

At the end of each level, there is also a neat mini-game which will have you chasing fairies, blowing kisses at them and trying to catch their tears. How touching.

For the price, the Cecco collection should not be missed.