HAVE YOU GOT THE COMPILATIONS?

There's a compilation to suit almost every taste these days, from Rainbird's Silicon Dreams collection of early Level 9 adventures to Durell's excellent set of simulations and shoot 'em ups, Big 4. Compilations are big bucks - which is why every company and its dog seems to have one out at the moment. So which is the best bargain? Here's a brief guide to some of the latest releases, in what's likely to become a semi-regular feature. Although we've referred to the original reviews (the dates in brackets are the issues they first appeared in), we've judged the games by today's standards and some of the marks may be a smidgin different. So leave off with the Trainspotter letters, eh, guys? We know what we're doing. I think!

Mikro-Gen
£9.95

Back in working order, Mikro-Gen has started its new career within CDS with a retrospective of past glories. One, Pyjamarama, has appeared more than once before on compilations, but it's still a great game, the first of the Wally series and a pig to solve. Battle Of The Planets (March '86) is a swift vector graphics shoot 'em up, neatly put together. The others, though aren't quite as special. Frost Byte is an arcadier update of the Wally's, less sophisticated and not much fun. And Stainless Steel (Oct '86) is a very dull shooter indeed. A solid collection, but if you only know the Wally games don't expect the same standard.