Possibly inspired by the wave of Vietnam war films made in the 1980s, Butcher Hill puts you in charge of a group of soldiers navigating the rivers and dense jungles of Vietnam. Sadly, it's much more like playing a bad computer game than watching a movie. The boat section is first and it feels interminable. When you finally reach a dock, it's on foot into a 3D jungle section – possibly one of the strangest gaming experiences I have ever had, and not in a good way. The final stage is a third person shoot-'em-up in a village. The gameplay throughout is leaden and although the graphics are colourful they are often too chunky to see what's happening. The only reason to load this game would be the atmospheric title music by Ben Daglish, but even this has not been ported over well from the Spectrum original.

More information on CPCSOFTS

Rating: 4/10

This game was also released on budget as Pro Boxing Simulator. Anyway, beneath the intriguing title is a boxing game where you are allowed (and encouraged) to cheat. There's an indicator for each player, showing the number of chances they have – when this reaches zero, they lose. If the indicator is red, it means the referee has his eyes on you and you'll be caught if you foul, but green means you can get away with it. The graphics are great and the characters and referee are well animated, and the sound of the crowd roaring is nice – their comments are even better! However, the controls are too tricky, particularly with the keyboard, and selecting the right moves seems to be a matter of luck most of the time.

View an advertisement for this game

More information on CPCSOFTS

Rating: 6/10