Last Ninja 2 (System 3) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

One of the best sequels I have seen. It works because the designers were brave enough to stick to the same basic concept.

Charlie Chaplin (U. S. Gold) (Spectrum 48K)

A "unique game concept", states the packaging. Indeed it is. "Funny" states the packaging. Yep, it's funny alright. Unique and funny in that there's so little to do!

Football Manager II (Prism) (Atari ST)

Quite simply, a football fan's dream come true. It's a beautifully structured and presented game and is engrossing, challenging and very, very addictive.

Peter Beardsley's Football (Grandslam) (Atari ST)

Despite the amazing power of the Atari ST, this game is still as sick as a parrot.

Gauntlet II (U. S. Gold) (Atari ST)

I've spent many hours fighting through Gauntlet II's 100 levels, and can honestly say that it's one of the finest arcade conversions I've ever seen - don't miss it.

Leatherneck (Microdeal) (Atari ST)

Excellent fun, but it would have been better if the difficulty level varied according to the number of players.

Pandora (Firebird) (Commodore 64/128)

There's so much to see that there's not a chance of getting bored... It's certainly not a game you can expect to finish quickly.

Metropolis (The Power House) (Spectrum 48K)

An amiable little game... Probably entertaining for a good few hours but let down by some sloppy graphics and sound design.

Aaargh! (Electronic Arts) (Amiga 500)

The game is very similar to Rampage in its total destruction approach, but no less playable for that. The screens are rather nice, highly detailed and the music adds considerably to the jollity of the game.

Every Second Counts (TV Games) (Commodore 64/128)

How much you like this just depends on how much you like trivia, I guess.

Hercules (Gremlin Graphics) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

Hercules doesn't have any real new dimension to it in the quality stakes and it isn't cheap enough to make it a real star buy.

Oops! (The Big Apple) (Spectrum 48K)

In purely abstract terms, this is one of the best strategy/maze games I've seen.

Patton Vs. Rommel (Electronic Arts) (Commodore 64/128)

A good enough game... At the end of each move, a picture of Patton or Rommel appears and tells you what you are doing wrong, although some of this advice is actually pretty unhelpful and best ignored.

Beyond The Ice Palace (Elite) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

The creatures some at you thick and fast, flying bat - like things, axe-throwing zombies and other nasties that materialise from nowhere to wreak havoc.

Darkside (Incentive) (Spectrum 48K)

Any review of this game cannot be anything but inadequate. Miss out on it and you might as well throw your micro out of the window.

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

This game is much-of-a-muchness, playable but not addictive, entertaining but not memorable.

Great Giana Sisters (Rainbow Arts) (Commodore 64/128)

A bloody good game... Nintendo's guarding its Super Mario licence jealously but this is essentially that game, but played with a joystick. We'd have given it Game of the Month if it wasn't such an obvious filch!

Vixen (Martech) (Spectrum 48K/128K)

Good graphics, nice sound, but a little mundane in the playability stakes - that's Vixen.

F/A-18 Interceptor (Electronic Arts) (Amiga 500)

Destined to become a benchmark against which future products of the type will be judged. If you like this kind of game, and you own an Amiga, then buy it at your first opportunity.

Race Against Time (Codemasters) (Amstrad CPC464)

A decent arcade adventure for a fair price... But that blurb? "Absolutely brilliant - this is one of the best computer games ever written!"? Now steady on! That really is going too far.

Corruption (Magnetic Scrolls) (Amiga 500)

Here is a game that Magnetic Scrolls is not urging people to rush out and buy. They recognise that it is a completely different genre from their previous titles, and, whilst they hope their fans will like it, would prefer them to read reviews and think carefully whether or not it's their type of adventure before deciding.

Shadowgate (Mirrorsoft) (Atari ST)

Great entertainment, with surprises and puzzles all along the way!

Time And Magik (Mandarin) (BBC B/B+/Master 128)

All three games now have graphics on disk version, and the old graphics of Red Moon and Price Of Magik have been replaced with 'real' pictures. Mind you, the puzzles remain two-word puzzles as on the old BBC, which does make the new parser largely redundant.