Magnetron (Firebird) (Commodore 64)

An enormous challenge and should provide many many hours of involving gameplay.

Pacland (Grandslam) (Commodore 64/128)

Neither challenging nor graphically interesting. You may want it if you were a fan of the coin-op, but otherwise I think it will leave you pretty unmoved.

Demon Stalkers (Electronic Arts) (Commodore 64)

The graphics and sound effects are of a moderate and above average quality, although the scrolling leaves a lot more to be desired. Nevertheless, this does deserve your time and money.

Sophistry (CRL) (Spectrum 48K)

Sophistry isn't a real stinker like plenty of games we see, but nor does it hold enough to make it very good.

Arkanoid: Revenge Of Doh (Imagine) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

This isn't a new high in originality, but it's good fun and offers some entertaining extras.

Gothik (Firebird) (Spectrum 48K)

A lot has been packed into this Gauntlet clone, and there are plenty of good ideas and touches.

Chernobyl (U. S. Gold) (Commodore 64/128)

You may play this only once, but it offers a taste of a horrific responsibility that it is humbling and probably healthy for us all to experience at some time or other.

Rimrunner (Palace) (Commodore 64/128)

Palace never fail to disappoint; here, the graphics are almost surreal in colour and the Insectoid and his Runner are really neat... The whole game feels very Minteresque.

Ikari Warriors (Elite) (Commodore 64/128)

The Amstrad version of this was quite good but sadly the Commodore version won't make the top ten of C64 games.

Pink Panther (Gremlin Graphics) (Atari ST)

A game for ardent Pink Panther fans only.

Blood Valley (Gremlin Graphics) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

I can't pretend I spent very long playing this, the whole thing was just too frustrating. The music's good though.

Sidewinder (Arcadia) (Amiga 500)

A game that combines first rate graphics and enormous excitement.

Okinawa (PSS) (Commodore 64/128)

Teladon (Destiny) (Spectrum 48K)

A space bike zoom down a tunnel... and a terribly tasty teaser from new boys Destiny. Let's hope the standard stays this high.

The Flintstones (Grandslam) (Amstrad CPC464)

The graphics and sound are good, and the cuteness quotient very high. I don't think that cuteness is enough to sell a game, but this is a polished and professional product which deserves to be seen.

Samurai Warrior (Firebird) (Commodore 64)

Clever, funny and challenging all at once, and breathes new life into the martial arts genre, as well as appealing to lovers of more complex arcade adventures.

Shanghai Karate (Players) (Amstrad CPC464)

It's OK for a budget game really... Whilst the backgrounds are very nice, and there are some good sound effects and flashes and bangs, the characters aren't particularly well designed or animated.

Barbarian (Palace) (Amiga 500)

It's the little things that make Barbarian so great; the way the victor kicks the loser's corpse and flourishes his sword, the grotesque mutant and the gorgeous sound samples.

Northstar (Gremlin Graphics) (Amstrad CPC464)

Hmmm, it's nicely programmed, colourful with nice sound and quite playable. But then so are hundreds of other games.

Alien Syndrome (ACE) (Commodore 64)

As much as possible has been crammed into the game - right from the title screen onwards. If Ace can maintain this standard in their conversions then gamers are in for a treat.

Herobotix (Hewson Consultants) (Commodore 64)

There's not much incentive to play this, unless you are the sort who enjoys slogging through a complex game merely for the pleasure of finishing it.

Slap Fight (Imagine) (Atari ST)

The fighter itself is well drawn, although the shadow underneath flickered in a rather distracting fashion... I think there are plenty of better shoot-'em-ups on the Atari ST than this.

Road Warrior (CRL) (Commodore 64/128)

The most bafflingly disappointing full-price game I've seen for months. The fact you get a free poster with it is little consolation.

Project Stealth Fighter (Microprose) (Commodore 64)

Perhaps the best feature is the ability to save a successful pilot and go to another mission when you've recovered.

Beyond Zork (Infocom) (Amiga 500)

One of those rare games that I just kept on and on playing... After a few 'dodgy' titles from Infocom recently, it is nice to see them back on course, with what is bound to be among their top-selling titles.

Sherlock: The Riddle Of The Crown Jewels (Infocom) (Commodore 64/128)

All the puzzles and text that go to make a moderately difficult Infocom adventure of the expected standard. But, be warned, on the C64, things are deadly slow! Get a 16-bit machine to enjoy the best of this adventure.

Wolfman (CRL) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

Written with a great deal of sensitivity... The game itself is certainly worth playing, and the many people who have enjoyed Rod's previous games should not be put off for one moment by the anti-horror hysteria being worked up over this, and CRL's earlier Jack The Ripper.

Intrigue (Mirrorsoft) (Commodore 64)

A completely novel game system, with a mixture of cartoon style graphics and digitised pictures.

Sapiens (Loriciels) (Amstrad CPC464)

Play, as in gameplay, did not make itself apparent. If there is a 'winning' strategy, or if there are real problems to be solved, I couldn't tell.

Double Dragon (Sega) (Sega Master System (EU Version))

Definitely one of the better conversions for the Nintendo.