The Armageddon Man (Martech)

The slickest simulation of global geopolitics yet - and it's piggin' difficult too!

Athena (Imagine)

A cracking conversion of the coin-op classic from SNK - and it'll keep even the hardiest gamer battling for months!

Battle Ships (Elite)

As well as being compulsive, it's also that rarity on the Speccy - a game that's more fun for two.

Boulder Dash Double Pack (Prism)

Terminally addictive.

Castle Eeerie/Shipwreck (Tartan)

Nothing exceptional but with two games on one tape for £2.95, worth investigating.

Convoy Raider (Gremlin)

Little challenge and quickly repetitive.

CORE (Bug-Byte)

There's not an amazing variety in the graphics, or indeed the gameplay, but it's the sort of game we don't often see any more - large, challenging and complex.

The Crystal Of Chantie (Pelagon)

A cut above your average game, and GAC fans especially should be keen to see some unusual and effective programming.

Death Wish III (Gremlin)

This is a shoot-'em-up with a difference and it's packed with clever touches.

Destructo (Bullfrog)

Cheap but less than cheerful aerial shoot 'em up with little variety or originality.

Eddie Kidd Jump Challenge (Ricochet)

You'll get bored with it quicker than you'll get good at it.

The Fifth Quadrant (Bubble Bus)

The animation's excellent, but the graphics are uninspiring and gameplay is slow.

Forgotten City (Hawk Adventuring)

It has all the commands we know and love from games done on Quill, Illustrator and Patch, and I don't know how the loading screen was done, but that too is worth seeing, and the game itself is well worth buying.

GBA Championship Basketball (Gamestar)

Clever and close simulation of a sport which lends itself to computerisation, but limited by the long game.

Geoff Capes Strong Man (Ricochet)

It's hardly a world-beater, unlike good ol' Geoff, but it hasn't aged too badly and still plays fairly smoothly.

Inspector Flukeit (Top Ten)

I've got a feeling this'll keep you occupied for a couple of evenings or so and you'll feel you've got your two quid's worth at the end of it.

Last Mission (US Gold)

A slow but very addictive conversion from the Data East coin-op.

Mission Jupiter (Codemasters)

There are loads of great shoot 'em ups about these days - pity this isn't one of them!

Nick Faldo Plays the Open (Bug-Byte)

Nice try, but rendered obsolete by games that have followed.

Ninja Hamster (CAL)

A superb cartoon-style martial arts game with a unique combination of fast, gritty action and an oddball sense of humour.

Oriental Hero (Firebird)

A no-frills beat-'em-up that adds nowt to the 8 billion previous no-frills beat-'em-ups. Bound to do well, though.

Rebel (Virgin)

A cleverly plotted arcade adventure with a bit of strategy and a lot of terrific graphics.

Renegade (Imagine)

Renegade is a must! It's hot, it's dangerous and it's yours for the beating!

River Raid (Firebird)

I can see why Activision took a while to make an impact in the Speccy market if they started with tat like this. What I can't see is why Firebird has agreed to release it again. Avoid.

Road Runner (US Gold)

A true enough conversion of the popular arcade game, with lots to recommend it. Good clean cartoon fun.

Satcom (Atlantis)

A great little hacking game - a fine follow up to the excellent Supercom.

Soap Land & Scary Mansion (Zodiac)

Two very bright and funny adventure writers here, in Andy Lowe and Dave Dutton, and we'll be hearing more of them, I'm sure.

Sidewize (Firebird)

It could take years of careful manoeuvre to beat this one.

Stifflip & Co. (Palace)

Hilarious and stylish, only the too-complex combat system lets it down.

Survivor (US Gold)

Beautifully colourful maze shoot 'em up which fails badly on the gameplay front. Seriously unaddictive.

Toot 'n' Come In (Epsilon)

You have to search and examine everything, including walls and passages mentioned in location descriptions, but I didn't care for the combat sequences which are a little too lengthy and tedious.

Witch Hunt/The Cup (Jack Lockerby)

All I can say is that if you don't bother to buy at least one or two of the games listed here, you're missing out on some great adventures.

Z (Rino)

A great little budget shoot-'em-up. It's one cheapie game that certainly won't put you to sleep!

Zenji (Firebird)

It's quite clever, but unlike the Boulderdash games, it hasn't survived well.