The Running Man (Grandslam)

Fun scrolling film conversion. Not what it might have been.

Rock Star Ate My Hamster (Codemasters Gold)

Entertaining sideswipe at pop biz. Laff a minute, but no "action" element.

The Hit Squad (Codemasters)

Just for once, the little Darlings' wild claims on the package - "technically brilliant, ultra fast, infuriatingly addictive, mega blast-'em-up!" - aren't that far from the truth. But then, they didn't write it. Binary Design did. Teehee.

DNA Warrior (Artronic)

There just isn't any point in trying to reproduce the feel and play of R-Type unless you can beat it. DNA Warrior falls a long way short.

Street Gang Football (Codemasters)

I am a great fan of computer football games, but I had absolutely no fun playing this one.

Fast Food (Codemasters)

Too easy on the first two screens; there are no monsters chasing you, so the excitement is not exactly fever pitched. Things get harder but not that much. Could be just the thing for really young kids, otherwise avoid.

SAS Combat Simulator (Codemasters)

As a cut-price version of Fernandez Must Die, it's not a bad effort, with reasonable gameplay and sound making up for the slightly drab graphics.

Eliminator (Hewson)

There are lots of good things about Eliminator; scrolling, speed, simplicity And there are a fair few niggling points too; lack of depth, silly "start" positions, etc. I'd check it out before you buy it.

Run The Gauntlet (Ocean)

A pretty fabbo game, but it does fall down on one minor point. It's very hard to start with, which can be a little disheartening.

Wanderer (Elite)

Wanderer is a decidedly unsuccessful mishmash of games. None of which work at all.

Captain Blood (Infogrames)

Although the Jean-Michel Jarre music on the 128K version is suitably boppy, I don't think 48K players will get much out of the game, especially since it's been slightly cut down to fit in the machine.

Titanic (Kixx)

Poor Scuba Dive rip-off. Looks bad, plays worse.

Colosseum (Kixx)

Colosseum is a brilliant idea. It's original, and were it carried through properly, it could be an excellent game. As it is in its present form, it's not.

Advanced Soccer Simulator (Mastertronic Added Dimension)

Good multi-player football game. Doesn't claim to be realistic, just fun.

Blasteroids (Imageworks)

It looks like a faultless conversion, but plays poorly.

Pac-Land (Grandslam)

A very faithful conversion of a game you'll either love or hate.

Repton Mania (Superior/Alligata)

It would be nice to be able to find something nice to say about Repton Mania, but when even budget games now routinely feature excellent graphics, sophisticated sound and complex gameplay, it's hard to see any virtue in this outmoded antique.

Chicago 30s (US Gold)

Chicago 30's could have been a very good game. As it stands, playability and visual problems aside, it isn't terrible. It just isn't great.