Animator 1 (Softcat Micros)

The fear of creating a barrier between amateur user and professional has in fact undermined the quality of the program itself. It certainly doesn't stimulate the user to make any great artistic achievements.

Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes (Global)

There's a lot of challenge to keep the hardened gamesters at bay but it's easy enough for any simian to get into. Definitely worth a good look at.

Back To The Future (Electric Dreams)

The sort of game where it's very hard to believe that people have been credited for graphics and game design... Nobody could be proud of such work!

Ballblazer (Activision)

The effect of the ground moving is very good even though it is a little garish at times, but, as with most games with fast graphics, all the characters flicker horribly.

Batman (Ocean)

Thrills, spills and chills in an action-packed arcade adventure program.

Chemical Formulae (Eclipse)

The program is menu-driven, so that the pressing of any key highlights the option chosen, while 0 confirms the choice.

Classroom Chaos/Dungeon Dare (Central Solutions)

I found Classroom Chaos a very entertaining adventure. Its theme is a pleasant and refreshing change to monster-bashing and it creates a believable caricature of a school.

Commando/Operation Turtle (Double Play)

Um, "The door is of heavy steel and a panel of buttons indicates that it is electronically operated." Did the Germans have electronically operated doors in occupied France? It seems very unlikely.

Cyberun (Ultimate)

A scrolling game where the background whizzes behind your ship which sits centrally on the screen.

The Doomsday Papers (Matand)

The game has a reasonably friendly vocabulary (let down by the ridiculously worded solution to the pile of rubbish problem), some super little sounds, and merrily rolls on, perhaps a little too easily.

Green Beret (Imagine)

The game is very playable and presents quite a challenge.

Hocus Focus (Quicksilva)

A neat little release... The scrolling is noticeable by its quality, very smooth and fluent indeed.

The Incredible Shrinking Fireman (Mastertronic)

The game didn't get me very hooked and I wouldn't bother playing it many times.

Intermediate Level Science (Scisoft)

A very comprehensive package, which will help children put their scientific knowledge to practical use, as well as introducing them to the skills of information retrieval.

Max Headroom (Quicksilva)

Max Headroom could start a new branch of arcade/adventures... Lots of detailed graphics, neat little tunes, a few adventure elements, icons, codes... What I'm trying to say is this game's got the lot!

Numbers At Work/Entrepreneur (Collins)

Anyone thinking of setting up in a small business would do well to invest in this excellent package.

Paddington And The Disappearing Ink (Collins)

Worth buying for the first two programs.

Ping Pong (Imagine)

The graphics suit the game very well and there are no attribute problems at all, but the sound... Super duper, spiffing stuff guys! I really couldn't believe that a humble BEEPy Spectrum was uttering such impressive music.

Prelude/Antteroo (Central Solutions)

Many of the programming techniques are woefully ancient with jerky character movement replacing the very smooth scrolling which typifies games released this year.

Return To Ithaca (Atlantis)

The programming behind this game turns out to be not as sophisticated as it might but the theme is enough to keep the player's interest.

Revenge Of The C5 (Atlantis)

It's very poor in all aspects and it will require a lot of patience, memory and skill to complete it.

Rifts Of Time (Pocket Money)

Exits and objects are clearly marked in a manner typical of "Quilled" games and the humour developed around your companion Dave keeps you going through the trickiest moments.

Sai Combat (Mirrorsoft)

The game itself is fun to play and the increasing difficulty of your opponents makes it quite addictive. The two player option is a nice touch.

Samantha Fox Strip Poker (Martech)

Generally I don't think Sam's pixels are worth the nine quid being asked. The whole thing somehow seems rather tasteless.

Scotsmaths (Technol Computing)

A pleasant little program which children should enjoy.

Shipshapes (Argus Press)

As with all the Clever Clogs programs, this one is very attractive and professional.

Starstrike II (Realtime)

A game that every Spectrum owner should have on the shelf... There's a host of different ships which are very detailed and neatly animated.

Supercom (Atlantis)

I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone as it is very monotonous.

Turbo Esprit (Durell)

Gives you a good feel of what it's like to manoeuvre a sports car around the streets of cities and lets you try your hand at three point turns up one way streets, which I can assure you gives exciting driving.

The Way Of The Tiger (Gremlin)

A game that gives a new challenge to all those people who said Way Of The Exploding Fist was easy.

Who Dares Wins II (Alligata)

This isn't really of a high enough standard and pales besides Elite's Commando and Imagine's Green Beret.