The greatest war the world has ever seen is about to commence. It's so great that even the Swiss are getting involved this time! This is a beat-'em-up based on the British TV show of the same name, which lets you match six of the world's leaders against each other - Maggie Thatcher, Ronnie Reagan, Michael Gorbachev, Pope John Paul II, Ayatollah Khomeini, and P. W. Botha. Of course, each of them has their own ways of fighting. You select an opponent and a champion, with you playing the opponent, and if you defeat the champion three times, it's on to another one. The graphics are brilliant and there are some jolly jingles to be heard, but it is after all a novelty game, and although it's funny at first, it'll wear off before long.

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Zippy the spider is stuck in a maze which is constantly scrolling within a section of the screen, and if he touches the edges of the screen, he loses one of his three lives, which can happen if you're trapped within the walls of the maze and there's no escape! It's probably not easy to understand this explanation, but it is an original idea, although the aptly named Zippy can be a little bit too fast, for you can sometimes run into the edges when you didn't mean to. The graphics are very basic and the colour scheme is garish, and there are no sound effects worth talking about, but it's still a fun game to play every now and then.

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This game was originally going to be called Splitting Images, but the name had to be changed. This is a variation of those sliding tile games, although in this game, the board is initially empty. The tiles are stored at the top left corner and you can release them as necessary. The aim on each of the ten levels is to recreate the face of a famous person shown elsewhere on the screen - but with a tight time limit and numerous hazards to face, it really isn't easy. Many famous faces of the 1980s are in the game - Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Neil Kinnock, Clive Sinclair (boo!) and Alan Sugar, to name a few. The caricatures are well-drawn and very colourful, and even though the constant white noise is irritating, it's still a thoroughly enjoyable game.

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An eerie mansion full of ghosts and other strange creatures... and you're inside it. As well as avoiding the nasty ghosts and skulls, you have to collect the insects that roam and fly about, and use them to cast spells. Each spell requires different insects - there's a book that'll reveal everything, but you'll need a spell to open it! Watch the hourglass at the corner of the screen - if it runs out too many times, you'll be hanged! Sadly, this is an awful Spectrum port with flickery, monochromatic sprites and hardly any sound, and the game itself is frustrating.

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King Michael's daughter, Princess Clare, has been kidnapped by evil ghosts and taken away to a castle, and as Gary, you must free her. The main hazards to watch out for are bats, fire and ghosts. Contact with bats depletes your energy, while touching fire or the ghost that wanders from right to left across the screen loses one of your lives instantly. You can collect vases to replenish your energy, and ankhs to give you extra lives. However, they reappear every time you enter a room, which makes the game rather easy to complete. The graphics aren't bad, but the castle is too small (it has fewer than 20 rooms) and once you've completed it, it's not something you'll want to play again.

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This quiz game is based on ITV's short-lived version of A Question of Sport. Three players choose an area of sport, and then they take it in turns to move around a triangular board, answering questions based on the three subjects that have been chosen, as well as the occasional question on general sport. The game consists of seven rounds, but apart from the last round, which is a quick-fire session, there is only one question in each round. This makes each game rather short. Many of the questions are now outdated, and unless you have a really good knowledge of many sports, you won't like this game. It does have a great rendition of the theme tune, though. (The answer to the question in the screenshot is "Renault", by the way.)

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There are some of us (but certainly not me) who like to take a gamble on a horse at the races. Now you and up to four other players can see how much money you can win. You can choose a total of 25, 50 or 75 horses, with seven horses competing in each race, and you can study the form cards for each horse for the last fifteen races. There are also four types of bet you can use on a horse. Once you've made your bet, you can watch the race and cheer on your horse. I suppose that if you're a fan of horse racing, you might like it, as it gives you the opportunity to try and beat the bookies in real life, but all you see at the end of every race is "You have lost £xxxx" and "You have won £xxxx". The thrill of winning just isn't there.

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See also: Action Fighter.

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Spy vs. Spy
(Beyond/First Star, 1985)

Two spies are in an embassy, and they have to collect four objects before making their escape in an aeroplane. The objects are all hidden underneath furniture and ornaments, so a lot of searching is needed - and you'll need to find the briefcase first. The amusement really begins when you plant booby-traps to catch your enemy unawares, and steal the objects off him - but try to remember where you planted them, or you may be caught out! It's got simple graphics and sound effects, but it is so addictive in the two-player option that you won't be able to resist it.

See also: Spy vs. Spy II: The Island Caper.

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Those two spies are at it again - this time they're stranded on a desert island and have to find three pieces of a missile and return it to a submarine. The traps are more inventive this time, and they include napalm bombs and nooses, and there's a gun lying somewhere too... Sadly, everything that made Spy vs. Spy such enormous fun (especially with two players) has gone. The scrolling is excruciatingly slow, the controls don't respond well, and the traps are too difficult to place. I'd stick with the original game.

See also: Spy vs. Spy.

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