Shao-Lin's Road (The Edge)

A fine conversion. Should do well even though the martial arts thing has been covered pretty well by now.

Aliens (Electric Dreams)

A blockbusting arcade/strategy experience. You'll not be disappointed, the tension is something you really feel.

Defcom (Quicksilva)

Defcom is a moderately addictive shoot-out with a tiny bit of strategy thrown in for good measure. Great music.

Dracula (CRL)

The gothic character set and digitised pictures just make you want to die. Great ghoulish fun in three full loads.

Cobra (Ocean)

Cobra is just what we all expected. Not great, it's pleasant enough, and not as disastrous as most licence deals.

Breakthru (US Gold)

Breakthru is essentially Spy Hunter edge-on. It's fun, easy to get the hang of, but hard to complete. And it's quite addictive.

Double Take (Ocean)

Incredibly imaginative arcade game, with cartloads of fresh ideas professionally implemented - deserves to be big.

Contact Sam Cruise (Microsphere)

Sometimes unwittingly hilarious detective spoof with bold, irregular graphics. Not a case for arcade gamers.

Donkey Kong (Ocean)

It's too little, too late. Here we have Kong, three years on and it's much the same. Progress? Who cares?

Zub (Mastertronic)

Possibly the most addictive arcade game released on the Spectrum this year. So simple yet it's absolutely stunning.

Oblivion (Alpha Omega)

Screen after screen of terminally dull action. A quite exceptionally tedious game. Bound for oblivion on a fast train.

King's Keep (Firebird)

Visually unexciting but fiendishly difficult mixture of Manic Miner and Spellbound. Really devious - a real challenge.

Black Hawk (Creative Sparks)

This used to be a full price game! It was so hopeless then that even now it's out on budget it still can't cut it.

Phantomas (Codemasters)

Another sub-Manic Miner budget bounce 'em up. No real original thought has been put into it but it's huge.

Alien (Bug-Byte)

A reasonable game, a good budget bet, and is more suspense-orientated - like the first film.

Terra Cognita (Codemasters)

Superb arcade game with near Lightforce-quality graphics and a lot of good ideas. A real test of your joystick control.

Hercules (Alpha Omega)

Not quite a boring platform and ladders game with terrible graphics. Some neat twists earn it a few extra points.

Frost Byte (Mikro-Gen)

Moderately entertaining 'negotiate the caverns' game with some original features. Old ideas, but neatly done.

Highlander (Ocean)

No prizes here. Ocean probably paid big bucks for the license and has ended up with a golden turkey.

They Stole A Million (Ariolasoft)

A highly original idea spoilt. Monotony at the planning stage turns into tedium at the denouement. A pity.

Fat Worm Blows A Sparky (Durell)

An original looking game, with a dubious storyline and an inflated price. Could have made a good budget title.

Samurai (CRL)

Samurai is absolutely brilliant, superb, and wonderful. I can't wait to see a follow up. A classic strategy game.

Graphics Toolkit (Pyramide)

Better Basic (Digital Precision)

Qliberator (Liberation)

The Archers (Mosaic)

A great in-joke for Archers fans but manages to be funny on its own merits too. Marred a little by some curious mistakes.

Nosferatu (Piranha)

Visually excellent. It's inventive and ambitious. Definitely designed for puzzlers rather than battlers though.

The Pawn (Magnetic Scrolls)

An essential purchase for anyone into adventures who has just upgraded to a 128 - it doesn't run on a 48K.

Dome Trooper (Matand)

Lots of invention, neat puzzles of about the right level of difficulty.

Prehistoric Adventure (Crusader Computing)

Very professionally presented effort. It's a toughy though, and despite the full-colour poster, it's quite pricey.

Demon From The Darkside (Compass)

Quite an easy adventure but still good fun. Some of the spelling is a bit dodgy though.

Adventure (Adventure Software)

An affectionate homage to Advent, the first ever adventure game. If you know the plot it's not for you.

Paradise Connection (Birdseed)

Highly imaginative plot. It's the political conspiracy CIA/FBI involved in Latin American scenario. Entertaining too.

Don't Panic, Panic Now (Dented Designs)

Huge spoof - three full Loads - based loosely on the Hitch-Hiker's Guide. The snag is it's not all that funny.

Quest For The Orange Peel (Dual Dimension)

City Slicker (Hewson)

Jet Set Willy meets Spellbound well-worn game ideas that shouldn't be entertaining yet somehow are.

Dr. What (CRL)

Tired variation on the Spellbound formula. Tries very hard to be funny but fails miserably. Better as budget.

Rogue Trooper (Piranha)

Nice to look at but just not fast enough to crack it as the sort of arcade action game it is supposed to be.

The Investment Monitor (Michael Slatford)

Basic but functional current value tracking program. Doesn't give any market trend/share value movement data.

Valtrak 4 (Morley Davies)

Shares (Cottage)