Strider (U. S. Gold) (Amiga 500)

A must for all arcade fans... Arcade conversion of the year.

Shinobi (Virgin Games) (Amiga 500)

Having grown to love the coin-op, I must say that this version of Shinobi leaves me feeling disappointed. The end result looks careless, and with so much potential wasted, that's a far worse criticism than if the game had been a duffer in the first place.

Beach Volley (Ocean) (Amiga 500)

It's got nice big sprites, dayglo colours, and it's actually rather good.

Oil Imperium (Reline) (Amiga 500)

It might all sound a bit like Dallas; but it isn't a dream, it just plays like one.

Rainbow Islands (Ocean) (Amiga 500)

A brilliant game. Colourful and full of character, even our miserable Ed melted at the sight of a screen full of rainbows and ladybirds.

Gemini Wing (Virgin Games) (Commodore 64)

This has the makings of a good shoot-'em-up. It's just a shame that it's that little bit too frenetic and, visually, a godawful mess.

Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes Of Major Championship Golf (Accolade) (Amiga 500)

Amongst the most impressive sports sims I have seen, with each individual course drawn out exactly, with natural features like water and trees outlined and filled in using a large palette of colours.

Omni-Play Basketball (Mindscape International Inc) (Amiga 500)

Everything about this is of a high quality, and it is exceedingly well programmed.

Astaroth (Hewson Consultants) (Amiga 500)

Short on gameplay, short on graphics and short on variety. I'd say this game is lacking a little, wouldn't you?

Castle Warrior (Palace) (Amiga 500)

The trouble with multi-games like this is well documented: the more games you get, the crappier those individual games tend to be. Castle Warrior is no exception to this, although it is at least well presented.

Sleeping Gods Lie (Empire) (Amiga 500)

An unusual game, which does score in marrying an arcade game with an adventure with pleasant results.

Paperboy (Elite) (Amiga 500)

Worth the wait. I'm not too sure about the collision detection, however. In some places it's overgenerous and in others it's too stingy.

International Team Sports (Mindscape International Inc) (Commodore 64/128)

Mindscape have tried to come up with a twist to the old sport sim format with International Team Sports, but it just hasn't worked.

Leonardo (Starbyte) (Amiga 500)

I love this sort of game, but I found Leonardo repetitive. The further I got into it, the more disappointed I was with the lack of variety.

Fiendish Freddy (Mindscape International Inc) (Amiga 500)

A thoroughly nasty treat in which the bad guy often wins. The author spent two years creating this and it shows in the polish. I love it.

First Strike (Elite) (Commodore 64)

After Burner fans will probably love First Strike but I'd advise anyone else to take a good look before buying.

Leviathan (Mastertronic) (Commodore 64/128)

A classic piece of C64 gaming.

Bionic Commando (Kixx) (Amiga 500/600)

Unlike the lovely C64 version, the Amiga game uses the dreaded push-flip-scroll. But hey, when you've got a game as good as this one, who cares?

Cybernoid (Kixx) (Commodore 64/128)

Another fine re-release.

Wizball (Ocean) (Commodore 64/128)

Excellent graphics, perfect scrolling, groovy sound and classic playability make Wizball a must.

Pitstop (Kixx) (Commodore 64/128)

This was brilliant when released, and still is. One of our all time favourite games.

Monty On The Run (Kixx) (Commodore 64/128)

A classic platform challenge, but only if you can stand those kind of games.

Die Alien Slime (Virgin) (Commodore 64/128)

Fans of the coin-op should check this out.

Protector (Mastertronic) (Commodore 64/128)

The scrolling is smooth, the sprites are well-animated but the controls are a little sluggish. It's fun.

The New-Zealand Story (Ocean) (Commodore 64/128)

Ranks alongside Forgotten Worlds as one of the conversions of the year.

Tank Attack (CDS) (Amiga 500)

Loads of fun, and definitely worth getting, but only if you've got a friend who'll play it with you.

Skate Of The Art (Linel) (Amiga 500)

Will appeal to most people but especially to fans of the Kick Start genre.

Arthur: The Quest For Excalibur (Infocom) (Amiga 500)

Another example of the highly professional products we have come to expect from the world's masters of adventure.