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!

Virgin Games
£9.95

A very curious concoction indeed. Accompanying one of the best games of the last eighteen months, Dan Dare, the riproaring space classic based on the whizzy old comic strip (Gosh, Digby), are some of the oldest and cheesiest games known to mankind. Back To The Future, for instance, is a film tie-in of the old school - it's awful. And Jonah Barrington's Squash, while it's still the best of its kind, is about 8,000,000 years old. If you haven't got Dan Dare, get it. Otherwise, don't bother.