4 Soccer Simulators (Codemasters Gold)

A worthy alternative to Match Day II. What I liked best was how the kids argued after a foul in Street Football with comic-strip expletives deleted.

Airborne Ranger (Microprose)

The multiload is, of course, simply inexcusable but the rest of the game is quite good; killing the enemy and ducking into a nearby trench is mildly addictive.

Barbarian II: The Dungeon Of Drax (Palace)

An interesting hybrid of beat-'em-up and arcade adventure which is challenging enough to hold your interest for a long time.

Batman: The Caped Crusader (Ocean/Special FX)

This is brilliant... and will appeal to both Batman fans and games-players generally.

By Fair Means Or Foul (Superior)

Foul! How can you call this a fair match when I can't even tell which is my boxer?! In any case, the pair of 'em look doped, moving around the ring like they're ice-skating.

Espionage (Grandslam)

A very competent strategy game which is easy to get into and hard to stop playing.

Guerilla War (Imagine)

The only baddies this game tempts me to lob a grenade at are the programmers.

Lancelot (Level 9)

Technically superb with fluent play, this is a very fine adventure which is well worth the rather high asking price.

Netherworld (Hewson)

If you want something original, addictive and great to look at, buy this game now.

Powerplay (Players)

A novel, and very playable trivia game. A slight flaw is that players' pieces look the same, which can be confusing.

A Simple Case Of Espionage (Skyslip)

A refreshingly different game, breaking away from clichéd adventure presentation styles.

Terrorpods (Psygnosis/Melbourne House)

Technically, Terrorpods isn't too bad, with an effective 3-D landscape. The main drawback is the badly designed gameplay and awkwardness of the controls.

Total Eclipse (Incentive)

Total Eclipse is bigger than its predecessors but, in my opinion, doesn't beat the playability of Dark Side.

Traz (Game Busters)

The screen edit facility is a good idea; not exactly novel but it's great fun and simple to use.

Trivial Pursuit: A New Beginning (Domark)

Gather family and friends round the log fire and learn some interesting facts with this fascinating quiz game.

Exploding Fist+ (Firebird)

Two- or three-player games are fun... But despite the smooth animation, IK+ is just another mediocre clone.