Ghostbusters (Activision) (Commodore 64)

The game is terrific. My advice is... see the film and buy the game. You won't regret it.

Cliff Hanger (New Generation) (Commodore 64)

There are lots of screens and this will certainly liven up your Christmas party.

Starbike (The Edge) (Spectrum 48K)

It's colourful and fast, but if you've already bought Jet Pac, you may be disappointed.

Football Manager (Addictive Games) (Amstrad CPC464)

This game probably won't convert you into a football freak, but if you are one already then you'll like it.

Pitfall II (Activision) (Commodore 64)

Pitfall II is certainly better than number one. The game is harder, the graphics are better and there's more to do.

Dodo Lair (Software Projects) (Commodore Vic 20)

The game uses full user-defined graphics characters and the sound effects are no worse than any other Vic game. If you're a dodo-basher at heart then this is a good way to spend your Christmas money.

Mr. Ee (Micro Power) (BBC Model B)

A fast, colourful game with good graphics and sound. If you're an arcade addict then you'll like this.

Buzz Off (Electric) (MSX)

There's nothing special about Buzz Off, and certainly it's not up to the standard we were shown when the MSX machines were launched late last year.

Jasper (Micromega) (Spectrum 48K)

A good, non-violent game... The graphics are gorgeous. Beehives hang from trees and rather large bees flap their wings as they fly.

Felix Meets The Evil Weevils (Micro Power) (Acorn Electron)

A good, but hard, game from Program Power.

Battlecars (Games Workshop) (Spectrum 48K)

There's a lot to playing this game and you'll certainly have to study the 16-page manual for some time. Personally, I don't think it's worth it.

Turmoil (Bug Byte) (Spectrum 48K)

Graphics are as good as any similar game on the Spectrum and sound effects are as bad.

Star Avenger (Kuma Computers) (Amstrad CPC464)

Control via the keyboard is always difficult and this is the only drawback to a good, if fairly unoriginal, game.

Microgo (Edge Computers) (BBC/Electron)

Very well written... Graphics are good and the few sound effects are just right. The computer's response time is around three seconds on the Beeb but a little slower on the Electron.

Scrabble (Leisure Genius) (BBC Model B)

If it's a game of Scrabble you want and you don't care what the screen looks like then you'll enjoy this. But screen layout is so bad, obviously to conserve memory, that it becomes tedious to stare at it for any length of time.

Kensington (Leisure Genius) (BBC Model B)

If you like board games but can never find a willing opponent then this is certainly one for your collection.

Cluedo (Leisure Genius) (Commodore 64)

A great game which, I should imagine, will provide hours of fun this Christmas.

Knight Lore (Ultimate) (Spectrum 48K)

Like many other software companies, Ultimate claims that their game takes the Spectrum to its limits. Play Knight Lore and you'll believe them.

Underwurlde (Ultimate) (Spectrum 48K)

The 'Underwurlde' must be the largest map ever crammed into a Spectrum. My favourite screen so far is a moon-like surface on level 20, with pulsating bubbles floating up to the surface.

The Mask Of The Sun (Broderbund) (Commodore 64)

With no less than four disks, playing this adventure is a bit like taking part in an Indiana Jones movie. With such a good plot and graphics, one would expect the game to have a limited number of locations, but this is not so.

Sphinx Adventure (Acornsoft) (Acorn Electron)

This isn't a bad adventure, but let's hope Acornsoft think to bring out a machine code version, with a save game option.

Stainless Steel Rat (Mosaic) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

It's not the graphics that slow down the action - they are good and instantaneous. But the time delay for any command that doesn't change the location is a yawn.

The Crystal Frog (Kerian UK Ltd) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

A Quilled adventure, but an excellent one. The text locations are so long and verbose that it had me imagining I was playing an Infocom game!

French On The Run (Silversoft) (BBC/Electron)

As an adventure game, this scores zero. But that's not to dismiss it as a program... I found it quite fun, especially when I got one question right.

Return Of The Ring (Wintersoft) (Dragon 32)

Rejoice in the thought that if you own this, you have the best ever game for the Dragon.

Double Package (Alligata) (BBC Model B)

Offers a couple of entertaining and none-too-easy adventures and represents a good buy.

Return To Eden (Level 9 Computing) (BBC Model B)

Return To Eden is of a high standard and will, I think, turn out to have the same depth as its forerunner, Snowball.

Operation Safras (Shards) (Dragon 32)

A very disjointed adventure! The only thing I liked about it was the sound effects, but these alone are not sufficient to make up for the shortcomings.