MACHINE: Spectrum
CONTROL: Keys, Kemp
FROM: Power Software, £5.95

You are cast as Billy Bluebottle, supposedly the sophisticated saviour of the fly world, who as well as being remarkably urbane and intelligent, is also gifted with 'Superbluebottle' strength. Unlikely? Certainly. Intriguing? Yes.

From a James Bond style cassette inlay and loading graphic we find that the game is a simple looking platforms and lifts affair patrolled by men with aerosol cans and scattered with various objects such as a kettle, an old style cooking range, a telephone and what I suppose is a water pump.

You must move Billy around in an attempt to rescue a fellow fly from the rapidly flooding basement. This you do by using the lift to move between levels and eating putrefying food to sustain your super strength.

You accumulate points by moving the various objects and knocking over your aerosol wielding adversaries. However, you must be careful not to block your route since there are fly papers hanging down and if one of the objects gets lined up with these you can't get past, possibly blocking your route to the food.

Generally, Billy is a nice enough game with some fairly pretty graphics and a comparatively original scenario. Though you won't find any startlingly original game concepts you won't end up bemoaning the lack of inventiveness.

That's not to say you might not end up wanting to throw your Spectrum through the nearest window. The game is hard but perseverance will be rewarded.

An interesting aspect of the game is the foreign language feature. Instructions are provided in three languages - French, German and of course, English - and you are even told you are dead in the tongue you select. Does this mean that we are to become a nation of polyglots? Will we soon be able to say 'joystick' in Swedish, Serbo-Croat and Cantonese?

So, you are Billy Bluebottle, the ingenious, sophisticated and dedicated saviour of the fly world. Great. Pity that's about all that the instructions tell you. I know that this is supposed to stretch the grey matter, but even in the worst adventures, they give you a better clue than 'somewhere in the basement you will find a water pump.'

As for the graphics, they were standard, and control was fairly easy - no extra hands needed for this one. The sound, despite coming from the Spectrum's pathetic speaker was good, with a very catchy tune at the beginning. Not a bad game, but I can imagine getting bored with it pretty quickly.

SIMON ROGERS

Being a super-bluebottle doesn't really appeal to me, but this game does. It's extremely difficult to beat and has some nice ideas contained within a simple scenario.

The opening tune is good and it was a nice touch to put the multi-lingual option into the game. It's certainly tough since didn't manage to finish screen one but it's still playable. I'm just off to polish off last weeks mouldy porridge.

BOB WADE

ZX Spectrum
£5.95
Arcade Survival
Powersoftware

Tough three-screener from Walters Computing Services' new baby. Our superfly has to save a colleague drowning at the bottom of the screen while dodging men with aerosols and consuming large amounts of mouldering food to keep up his energy. Good graphics and all this company's titles have French and German menu options.