An alien invasion fleet is approaching the planet of New Stratford, so you decide to investigate it in your spacedozer. There are several mother ships to be destroyed, but you must use bombs instead of missiles, and fly over the surface of each mother ship one at a time. Once you destroy enough of it, you are whisked off to the next ship. It's a bit different from most other space shoot-'em-ups, but it's also rather dull, since you can't shoot any of the smaller spaceships, and crashing into them won't hurt your ship all that much. The controls are a little erratic and the graphics are sub-standard. Fans of action-packed shoot-'em-ups should avoid this game.

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5

Another of those games where you must escape from a labyrinth of dungeons and caves, fighting skeletons, orcs and ghosts, opening doors, collecting spells, and releasing some prisoners along the way if you have some release spells. The graphics are extremely well drawn and the music is so atmospheric and eerie! The only problem is that the game is too difficult, and it is made harder by only having one life; if you die, you have to start all over again.

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8

New York's streets are overrun with gangs, and the police can't handle it, so the chief has done a deal with vigilante Paul Kersey and allowed him to go and kill as many gang members as he can. You play Paul in this rather violent game, based on the equally violent film of the same name. You wander the streets with a variety of guns, scoring points for killing gang members, but losing points for killing policemen and little old ladies. You also need to raid apartments to find more weapons and locate the gang leaders and kill them. As already mentioned, this is a violent game, with bodies being graphically torn apart and blood flowing everywhere when you shoot anyone with the rocket launcher. However, the game doesn't have much depth, and I often became disoriented when using the map and compass.

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7

Defcom
(Quicksilva, 1986)

By 2056, the Star Wars satellite defence systems were ready, with eight satellites orbiting Earth. There was total peace for many years, but now aliens have taken over the satellites and started attacking Earth. You are Captain Nick Diamond, and your mission is to destroy the satellites with the sole remaining spacecraft available - the fairly standard Eagle Class E751. Your spacecraft is equipped with a cosmogun, but as you destroy more aliens, you can use a fazalaza, a dyno ray, and a blaster - the only weapon that can destroy the satellites. However, you have to blast a lot of aliens to obtain the blaster, and this is so tedious and repetitive that it's not worth the effort. The graphics lack colour as well, although the music is excellent.

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3

It's 1992, and there has been no conflict between the world's superpowers for many years - but there is now a serious threat to Earth, a threat so serious that the World Security Council has been put on DEFCOM 1 (er, surely it should be DEFCON 1?). Those aliens are up to no good again, and they've been detected in the Vesta-7 sector of Ceres. This is a shoot-'em-up in three parts, and you control a different vehicle in each part. You have to fly to the space shuttle launch site in a helicopter, then fly the shuttle through an asteroid belt, and then take on the aliens in a space fighter. In the first and third parts, you also have three smart bombs. This is a mediocre game, primarily because it's a Spectrum port, but there are also no power-ups, and the sound effects are very poor.

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5

Defender of the Crown
(UBI Soft, 1989)

Travel back in time to England in 1149. The king has been assassinated, and the Saxons and the Normans are fighting it out to reclaim the throne. You play the part of one of four Saxon lords (hint: choose Sir Wolfric the Wild) and must fight the Norman lords (and the Saxon lords too if you want) and prevent them from gaining territory. The more territory you have, the more taxes you can collect from the peasants to build up your army - but all this fighting takes a heavy toll. You can also claim territory in jousting contests, and lay siege to your enemies' fortresses! This is a big game, and the graphics and animation have to be seen to be believed; they are simply breathtaking. Unfortunately, it's too difficult, as the Norman lords take control too quickly for you to do anything about them, and this is a real shame.

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8

Defenders of the Earth
(Enigma Variations, 1990)

Ming the Merciless has kidnapped the Defenders' children and is holding them in the Fortress of Evil. You control Flash Gordon as he fights his way through three levels of the castle, shooting and jumping over monsters, and facing some pretty mean end-of-level guardians before encountering Ming himself. Your colleagues are also able to help you, by opening locked doors or creating bridges which will allow you to cross chasms. There are also a few energy icons which can be collected. The graphics are marvellous, but the music on the menu is unremarkable. However, the biggest problem is that the game is very tough indeed; completing the first level is a real feat, even with the four lives that you are given.

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6

Every now and then, there's a game which is strikingly original, and this is one of them. By bouncing a laser beam off sets of mirrors, you must shoot all the balls on the screen before aiming it at a target. However, watch out for the gremlins who will adjust the mirrors when you're concentrating on something else! You must also avoid overloading the machine, which can happen if the laser bounces back on itself, or if the beam hits a mine. It's not easy to get the hang of it at first, and the colour schemes are mostly gruesome, but you may well like it, and there are 60 levels to tax your grey matter.

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9

Deliverance
(Hewson, 1990)

Our hero is back to rescue some more fairies from hell and bring them to safety in heaven, but there are lots of lakes of fire and nasty, fire-breathing monsters to battle against. In fact, there are far too many monsters. If you thought Stormlord was tricky, then you clearly haven't played this game - it's impossible to get anywhere without a monster appearing from nowhere and making you lose a life. Getting Stormlord to jump properly is also a matter of luck. The graphics are as well-drawn as the first game, and the tune is good, too, but it really is far too difficult.

See also: Stormlord.

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6

You fool! You've smashed four talismans belonging to Trodor the demon and now his evil minions have taken over the castle! Your only hope now is to find all the pieces - four for each talisman - and put them back together. They're scattered all over the castle, and all the rooms are guarded. You'll probably need to make a map, as it's easy to get lost in the castle. The graphics are nice and colourful and the game moves at quite a fast pace as you move from one room to the next, and the tune is also very good, and you'll be kept busy at finding the pieces of the talisman for some time.

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7