Action Fighter (Firebird)

Not a particularly good scrolly road game, but sort of alrightish in its own way.

Advanced Pinball Simulator (Codemasters)

Although a bit strange at first, the program does play a mean game of pinball!

Altered Beast (Activision)

Pushes the Speccy to its limits, and although it's a flawed execution in some ways, I'd still say it's a good game. Little niggles here and there but very adventurous (and gory!).

Batman: The Movie (Ocean)

A brilliantly-done film conversion, but (ever so slightly) let down by limited driving sequences.

Billy The Kid (Virgin/Mastertronic)

You only have limited ammo for the main parts of the game, but in the practice round you can put on the rapid fire switch and blast everything to ribbons. This is one of the funniest ways to play any of the games.

Bronx Street Cop (Virgin/Mastertronic)

In the process of apprehending a villain, you are put on the shooting range and presented with a couple of targets to shoot at. As they come up into the gallery you must decide whether they are legitimate targets or innocent bystanders. Brilliant.

Cabal (Ocean)

A truly maaaaarrvellous coin-op conversion which will be the source of immense pleasure to those with a bloodthirsty streak. A 'must'.

Christmas Collection (Hewson)

One of the best compilations floating around. Requires little in the way of brainpower, but on Boxing Day that's probably just as well.

Continental Circus (Virgin)

A car-racing game that looks broadly similar to every other car-racing game you've ever seen. The whole thing is decidedly average.

Cosmic Pirate (Byte Back)

The impression I got was of a graphically uninspiring but otherwise fairly sound strategy game which will probably appeal to a minority audience.

F-16 Fighting Falcon (Virgin/Mastertronic)

Okay, I s'pose, but not enough control over the plane for my taste. It's also another slightly peculiar use of the gun.

Green Beret (The Hit Squad)

Each level is arranged differently and packed with, er, action, and the backgrounds and sprites are beautifully drawn.

International Football (Cult Games)

Sounds good to me. Those in the know will be relieved to hear that the game encompasses "average attendances", "relegation", "manager sackings" "+ much more".

Jungle Warfare (Virgin/Mastertronic)

The game isn't too bad, just a little bit repetitive, and it's obviously the ideal sort of thing to use a lightgun for.

Kendo Warrior (Byte Back)

The graphics are definitely above average, it's fun to play, and worth giving a go.

Panther (Mastertronic)

I endured it for about twenty minutes and then moved on to better things.

Project Stealth Fighter (Microprose)

Seriously complicated and packed to the brim. A top dog flight sim and no mistake.

Protector (Mastertronic)

This is the kind of simple idea which so often makes a really fab, addictive game. In this particular case, though, Protector turns out to be a distinctly unfab, unaddictive game.

Rescue On Fractalus! (Mastertronic Plus)

For the persistent, there's probably quite a challenging game lurking under the grotty exterior.

Shinobi (Virgin)

A game that takes the scrolling beat-'em-up theme and does absolutely nothing whatsoever with it. A good conversion though.

Sigma 7 (Encore)

Two quid is a small price to pay for this former blockbuster which is only just starting to go rusty.

Soldier Of Light (Rad)

If The Edge was hoping to make a few bob by flogging this to unsuspecting, impoverished readers, shame on them. Anyway, its plans have now been foiled, so ner.

Strider (US Gold)

Brilliant looking, smooth playing platform and ladders leap-'em-up with a neat main character. There could be more in it, but what's there is excellently done.

Stunt Car Racer (Micro-Style)

A gasp-a-minute, vertigo-inducing, solid-filled-vector-graphics road-racing game. The Speccy's processing speed has coped admirably (again) with a 'downgraded' 16-bit game.

Super Car Trans Am (Codemasters)

Not as good as the original, but it probably rewards persistence.

The Untouchables (Ocean)

A little cracker of a game...! Everything is as smooth and polished as you can get on a Speccy, and it's jam-packed full of things to do. To cap it off, the 30's-style music is very atmospheric.

Wulfpack (Blue Ribbon)

Although some of the ideas in Wulfpack are okayish, it's been programmed so primitively that coldly ignoring it would seem to be one's only option.