Summit
£3.99 cass

Here's an original storyline, folks. The year is 2046 and the Industry of Intelligent Androids have created Dergon, a revolutionary device capable of human-like thoughts. The trouble with robots having human intelligence is they don't have a soul, so things soon started to go horribly wrong.

The only way to save mankind is to destroy the androids' planets. Explosives have been secretly planted over the past two years and now they need someone to set them off. That someone is you - the Last Commando.

Does anyone remember the old Defender games? You know, where the landscape scrolls both left and right and a sleek ship zaps lots of aliens into oblivion? This is an updated version of that idea, and it's quite a spiffing one, too.

There are three planets to be destroyed, Zorak with eight explosives to be set, Alfard with six and Grisum's ten. They play in a similar manner but have different backgrounds and aliens. These nasty little beings move around in set sequences so studying their actions is a good idea.

Icons placed randomly around landscapes help your mission: clocks for time, weapons to make you mega-hard, transport platforms and ionic batteries which start the detonation sequence for each planet.

The Last Commando is a slick version of a classic arcade game. Everything's very colourful and there's some great presentation graphics and backgrounds.

It may have all been seen before but not for a long time. This is a game style that's well worth forking out for, so why not try it with The Last Commando?

Summit
£3.99 cass
0977 797777
Reviewer: Lesley Quigg

I met Mike from Neighbours the other day. He came into Dixons and asked for a gold-plated headphone adaptor. I just thought I'd mention it. The game? Ah, yes, the game. Erm, well it took me a bit of time to get to grips with it but I managed in the end and didn't I have a jolly time? (We don't know, did you? Ed) Not really.

I was dead excited when I was given this game 'cos I, erm, quite fancied the Op Wolf type hunk on the cover. I loaded it up expecting to be thrown onto a world of jungle fever and mercenaries. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, instead of being transformed into a machine-gun toting Bruce WiIbs on beta-blockers, I was to play a rather feeble space ship.

SWISS ROLL

Now, assuming this game was anything like R-Type, I'd be more than content. But R-Type it isn't, which is why I've had more fun putting in my contact lenses than playing this haven't-I-seen-this-a-million-times-before type game. The idea is that you're on a mission to blow up some planets. Nobody really knows why but you've got a job to do so no questions asked. Choose which planet you want to blow up and then look at the inlay to see what to do next. Apparantly you have to set some detonators and then blow them up. Exactly how you do this isn't really made clear. It seems that your best bet is to shoot things, collect things and die courageously.

Sounds boring, doesn't ? Well, that's 'cos it is. It's boring, really, really boring. Basically, what we have is a shoot-'em-up without any real concept. If you're really lucky you'll be able to tell an ionic battery from an entry capsule. However, if you're anything like me, you'll just shoot like crazy and hope for the best.

To be fair, The Last Commando does have its good points. The ion batteries look uncannily like Swiss rolls. Unfortunately, this is not nearly enough.

Label: Alternative
Memory: 48K
Price: £3.99 Tape
Reviewer: Big Al Dykes

Faster than a speeding mullet (eh?) and bouncier than a frog on a trampoline, The Last Commando's about to become saviour of the universe... John Major had better privatise him quickly, it looks as though he might be running a monopoly and that's not fair is it?

The plot revolves around around artificial intelligence that has gone out of control and populated the galaxy with machines destroying all other life forms. (Hmm, where have I heard this before?) Explosive charges have been placed on three planets inhabited by these machines and now they must be detonated, by the Last Commando.

The game takes the form of a left to right scrolling shoot 'em up with a small but fast and manouverable main sprite (mounted in a tracked armoured vehicle) and a variety of hopping m-m-m-mad (twitch) enemies. There is plenty of playability and your commando has a long lifeline so there not too much stop/start hassle.

Graphics and sound are good if a little dated looking and I must say I enjoyed this little bash. So many games these days can get too complicated so it's nice to see some good old fashioned fun on the Spectrum.

GARTH:
I'm very pleased to know Big Al's mother. She serves up food with variety and a feeling of business, which strangely enough is just what The Last Command has in abundance, whilst still retaining a familiar feeling of having tasted this all before.