Spindizzy Worlds (Activision)

The concept isn't original and the graphics aren't spellbinding, but it's certainly going to provide you with hours of absorbing entertainment - and isn't that what matters most?

James Pond (Millennium)

The visuals are bursting with kaleidoscopic colour, the sound effects are a masterpiece and the action is going to keep you rooted to your chair.

Paradroid 90 (Hewson)

Playability is impeccable - it's just that the play itself is so uninteresting after you've seen it once.

Shadow Of The Beast (Psygnosis)

The whole package is professional and addictive, and it does require some effort to complete. But the game still feels as if it's lacking that something extra which would make it a superb, rather than just a very good, game.

Gettysburg (Arc)

Gettysburg shows once again that Turcan's wargames reach the parts other wargames cannot reach.

Voodoo Nightmare (Palace)

A fun game to play, particularly if you like your games to have a vague puzzle element to them.

Turrican (Rainbow Arts)

It's all been done before, but surely never quite as well as this... This is the shoot-'em-up elevated almost to an art form, with more of everything and happening faster.

Dragon Breed (Activision)

Though the sprites are enormous and colourful, the levels are so short that you just don't have time to get involved in all the action.

Spiderman (Empire)

This is an unusual interpretation of the Spiderman licence but you do need to be a puzzle addict to enjoy it.

Strider 2 (U. S. Gold)

Although Strider 2 is certainly a better game than the prequel - praise indeed - it just doesn't offer quite enough that's different or special.

Ranx (Ubisoft)

The game's greatest appeal will be its vulgarity and violence - dogs shitting in the street, gay leathered bikers, expletives littering your conversation. But since it's presented in such a comparatively cute and inoffensive way I wonder why they bothered.

Flip-It And Magnose (Image Works)

This is an absorbing game. There are only a few puzzles on each level, but they do keep you hopping.

The Spy Who Loved Me (Domark)

Far and away the best of the Bond conversions... You'll be dropping those double entendres like big Bond himself.

Chuck Yeagar's Advanced Flight Trainer (Electronic Arts)

Avoid, avoid, avoid and then some. EA are capable of much, much better.

Torvak The Warrior (Core)

A standard walk around and kill the weirdies game which beats more than a passing resemblance to Rastan and Double Dragon II.

U. N. Squadron (U. S. Gold)

Yawn! There must be more to life than this! The same old idea dressed up as... the same old idea. And not particularly impressive in any department.

Pick 'N Pile (Ubisoft)

Certainly fun to play for a while, but where it falls short of its nearest rivals like Plotting and Manic is in its simplicity.

Spellbound (Psygnosis)

The blend of cuteness, arcade action and simple problem-solving make for an instantly playable, fun, appealing game.

Atomic Robokid (Activision)

Watch someone else playing Robokid and you're unlikely to appreciate how much fun it can be, but start toying with the joystick yourself for a moment and you won't be able to rip yourself away.

B.A.T. (Ubi Soft)

B. A. T. has all the makings of a classic game. Particularly in terms of ease of use and long term interest, it simply leaves the rest of the field standing.

Legend Of Faerghail (Rainbow Arts)

Polish as well as depth. The characters offer more potential than those of any other RPG and the game provides a challenge to match.

M1 Tank Platoon (MicroProse)

You can't launch yourself into this one without learning your stuff. It does have a great sense of atmosphere, however, and the level of detail is certainly impressive.

The Light Corridor (Infogrames)

The Light Corridor is surprisingly addictive, and it keeps you interested in what's around the corner by enabling you to enter a password to restart the game at a later stage.

Blitzkrieg (Impressions)

This leaves a lot to be desired. It looks ugly and, although there are a few good points, there are too many bad points.

Fire And Forget II (Titus)

A nice try but it falls at the most important hurdle, gameplay.

Back To The Gold Age (Ubisoft)

By no means awful... Its limited playability may appeal to some, but it doesn't have enough redeeming features to really do the business.

Lost Soul (MPH)

A decent adventure game containing some great puzzles.

Badlands Pete (Arc)

This is one bizarre game - bizarre because it's so bad and comes from Atari's own software label. The gameplay is slow and boring, and it's humorous basically because it's so crappy.

Platinum (U. S. Gold)

A very good compilation. It has a strong central theme, and there isn't a bad one among them.

TNT (Domark)

A good compilation, if only because of the excellent Hard Drivin' and Toobin'. The other three games are rather more iffy - but worth playing now and again.

Power Pack (Beau-Jolly)

These four games are of pretty consistent high quality.

Challengers (Ubisoft)

Buy this compilation and you'll be getting five very good games. Don't buy it, and you need your head examined.

Full Blast (Ubi Soft)

Four of the games on this compilation are truly great; the other two, frankly, might as well not be there.

Subbuteo (Electronic Zoo)

An extremely well programmed game, so if you're one of those people who actually enjoyed the original game then you'll just luuurve this.

Cricket Captain (D&H Games)

The package is well designed and is sure to appeal to cricket connoisseurs who can't wait for the summer.

Legend Of The Lost (Impressions Ltd)

Don't play this. It's all been done before, and far better.

Pro Soccer 2190 (Vulture Publishing)

Rather than being futuristic, this looks and plays like something out of the stone age. This would even embarrass a Spectrum owner.

The Final Conflict (Impressions Ltd)

Quite fun in a fascist blow-the-world-up sort of sense.

Zombi (Ubisoft)

A downgraded dungeon game. It's tiresome and dull, and quite frankly I'm glad we missed it first time around.

Blinky's Scary School (Zeppelin Games)

Great for kids, if less riveting for adults, Blinky is graphically excellent, and well worth its budget price.

Treasure Island Dizzy (Codemasters)

You get a lot of game for your money and, although the style is geared more towards youngsters, it does provide fun, as they say, for all ages.

Rockstar Ate My Hamster (Codemasters)

It's fun in a way, for a while, up to a point, etc, but don't expect any real lasting interest.

Ranarama (Players)

Not unlike Gauntlet in style, but far less hectic. You get a big game area for your money and plenty of action.

World Soccer (Zeppelin Games)

Expect to be mildly absorbed rather than wildly excited... There's no arcade action as such, just the cerebral business of managing a football team mixed with the nail-biting suspense of waiting for the results to come in.