Dinamic are famous for creating good-looking games which are cursed with a difficulty level that makes them hardly playable. Unfortunately, this basketball game (known as Fernando Martin Basket Master in its native Spain) is not an exception to the rule. Playing against the former Spanish player who gave his name to the game, or against a friend, you must prove your skills in a one-on-one game. You can dribble, shoot from every position, dunk, defend and make fouls - and you will, because it's hard to retain possession of the ball for more than a few seconds, even on the easiest level. The controls aren't suited to a sports game, and scoring feels like a miracle. After every basket, a replay scene reminds you how badly you play and how easy it is for your opponent to score. This is the kind of game that requires a lot of self-control.

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Batman
(Ocean, 1986)

Robin has been kidnapped, and to rescue him, Batman has to find seven pieces of the Batmobile which have gone missing in his lair, which is very big indeed. First, though, you're going to need to find four other items which improve your agility; when you find them, you can then explore other parts of the lair. Each room is viewed from an isometric perspective, and the graphics are very detailed, although some rooms have awful colour schemes! The sound isn't particularly good, though, but the game is quite a challenge, and you're going to need all of the eight lives you start with. Thankfully, you can collect icons which let you save your current status and location to memory (although unfortunately not to cassette or disc).

See also: Batman the Caped Crusader, Batman: The Movie.

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Batman the Caped Crusader
(Ocean, 1988)

The Joker and the Penguin have kidnapped poor Robin again, and Batman has to complete two missions, entitled 'A Bird in the Hand' and 'A Fete Worse Than Death' - so you really get two games for your money! The playing area is viewed in the style of a comic strip, showing one frame at a time, and it's quite smart. Some frames have captions as well, giving you obvious clues as to which object you should use. The icon system is wonderful to work with. Batman is very well animated and the graphics, while a little dull, are still detailed - and one of the tunes is incredibly groovy!

See also: Batman, Batman: The Movie.

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Batman: The Movie
(Ocean, 1989)

Batman's nemesis, the Joker, is up to his evil tricks again. You must chase the Joker through Gotham City, in five levels of platforming and driving action. The game starts with you chasing Jack Napier through a chemical factory and cornering him so that he falls into a vat and becomes the Joker. You must then escape in the Batmobile to the Batcave and discover which objects contain the Joker's deadly chemical, Smilex. Once that's done, you go back on to the streets, and finally, pursue the Joker to Gotham Cathedral. The graphics and music are both up to Ocean's high standards, although the second level is infuriatingly difficult; I've never been able to pass it without cheating. With regard to the cartridge version, the choice of colours is a lot better, but nothing else is different.

See also: Batman, Batman the Caped Crusader.

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Battle of the Planets
(Mikro-Gen, 1986)

Zoltar has declared war on the entire universe, and you have to defend five planets against his fleet of spaceships. Take out a few of them, then head towards the planet's surface where more spaceships can be shot and you can get a chance to refuel and repair your shields. Once that's been accomplished, it's time to take off and hyperspace to another planet, before Zoltar's cohorts kill all life on any of the other planets. It's not the most interesting game - it's just the same old blasting and planet-hopping all the time.

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It was such fun playing battleships with your mates at school, using only a pen and paper! So why would you want to play it with a friend on a computer? Granted, you get to watch a nice sequence showing your ship firing at your enemy's ships and watching them burst into flames if you hit them, but can you really trust your friend not to look at the monitor while you position your ships? You can still play against the computer, though, and this is probably your best bet - and keep the salvo fire option on, otherwise you'll only get four shots a turn and games will drag on for ages.

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Terrorists have seized some missiles and threatened to destroy the world. The US government has decided to send tanks and helicopters into Battle Valley, where the terrorists' six bases are located. The tanks are used to destroy cannons, rocket launchers and missile tracking stations, but some of the bridges are damaged and you'll need to use the helicopter to collect pontoons and winch them on to the bridge. The graphics and music are impressive, but the controls are awkward; to turn around, you have to press the fire button twice quickly, and to go faster, you must also press fire twice quickly and the direction you're moving in. Anyway, it's a rather tedious game, because the scenery doesn't change and a lot of time is spent driving back and forth between bases.

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It's another Breakout clone, and it's certainly not the best of the bunch. While the graphics are reasonable, there are next to no sound effects. What really annoyed me, however, was the size of the bat; it's too small, and it moves rather slowly so that you can't reach the ball in time. Each level also has an alien that fires large bullets which always seem to get in your way. All of this makes clearing the first wall a tough task - and why are there so many bricks that require more than one hit to clear?

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You've just bought a new beach buggy, so what better way to test it than to participate in the Dune Trials and race along a series of tracks, jumping over boulders and shooting down any helicopters flying overhead? This is certainly not your average race course! As with most racing games, you must reach the chequered flag within the time limit. Your fuel supply is limited, and it'll run out quickly if you crash too often. Fortunately, more fuel can be collected along the course, and thankfully the buggy is indestructible - it must be a great buggy! The graphics are colourful and a nice tune plays throughout, although there's no music. It's a really easy game to get into, and the difficulty level is set perfectly.

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Beach Head
(US Gold, 1985)

A dictator has control of the fortress on the island of Kuhn-Lin, and your mission is to storm the island and recapture it - but you'll have to battle with the enemy forces first! The first stage of the game is a sea invasion where you sink the enemy's aircraft and ships, although there's a secret passageway you may take to surprise them. Once you've blown them away, you can land on the beach and make your way to Kuhn-Lin by tank. When you reach the fortress, you have to aim your gun at several targets before the turret lays waste to your tank. This is one of those games that was once good, but which has since dated; it doesn't have much appeal any more.

See also: Beach Head II.

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