(See the current issue of our sister mag Amiga Power for more details). I happened to be walking past the NCE office when the news was broken to them, so the onerous task of taking over Games Week has fallen to yours truly. Big though they are, I'll be filling Gary's boots from now on, so it's a big welcome from all of me to all of you (and especially Simon Richards of Twickenham - stand by for loads more trash, Simon), and straight on with all the news that's relatively fit to print about games. If you know anything I don't, give me a call.

PLAY IT AGAIN, YORTLEBLUZZGUBBLY

The latest addition to the ranks of full-price re-release budget labels is Gremlin's GBH. The first reruns on this new back-catalogue milker will be Super Cars (a timely outing for the predecessor to Gremlin's recent hugely successful follow-up Super Cars, er, II), Core Design's platforming disaster Impossamole (the Rick Dangerous re-write and supposed triumphant return of Monty Mole that didn't quite work), and Footballer Of The Year 2, a strange mix of arcade action, management strategy game, and football trivia quiz. All three games will sell at the now-traditional £7.99 price point on Amiga and ST, and will be hitting the proverbial streets sometime in July.

VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE

C64 owners will probably faint with delight on hearing that the Bitmap Brothers' classic of sporting mayhem Speedball 2 is due out on their machine any day now. We've seen a nearly-finished version, and despite some pretty average graphics, the game plays like an absolute dream. Watch out for it, you're going to love it.

AMIGA AND ST ON THE WAY OUT?

Bad news for 16-bit fans as, following on from Anco's decision not to produce forthcoming Dino Dini basketball sim Tip Off on computer formats, veteran software publisher Elite is seriously considering scaling down Amiga and ST developments and concentrating on console games, particulary for the Nintendo. This won't affect planned releases for this year (including European Championship 1992, a re-titled conversion of Tecmo's phenomenally popular World Cup '90 coin-op), but lower costs and higher profits mean that in following years home micro products could be thin on the ground.

16-BIT CHEAPER THAN 8-BIT SHOCK!

Spooky happenings in the budget world, as a range of Amiga, ST and PC games have just gone on sale at a price point lower than many 8-bit cheapies. Prism's Pocket Power range comprises 16 Amiga, 13 ST and 3 PC games so far (with many more due in the next couple of months), all re-releases, and retailing at just £2.99. As you might expect, many of the games are of very poor quality, but there are some real pearls hidden among the swine. Check out Frost Byte, Plutos, Football Manager (ST version only) and Quantox (Amiga only) for some quality software at a price that would make some PD companies blush.

NEW GAMEBOY GAMES (AT LAST)

The fast-growing ranks of Gameboy owners will be pleased to hear of some new official releases for their software-starved (unless you buy grey imports, that is) machine. The latest batch includes Bugs Bunny's Crazy Castle, Burai Fighter Deluxe (an adaptation of the NES game), Dr. Mario (a Tetris-like puzzler) and Nintendo World Cup, a football game (so no surprises there), as well as versions of Chess and Battleships for slightly more cerebrally-minded. Hopefully I'll be reviewing a few of these very soon.

BEG, BORROW, AND BURN

Your at-a-glance guide to the recent must-haves, might-haves, and manky old duffers in the world of software. Don't go near a software shop until you've read this column, or you might regret it.

BEG - whatever you do, get a copy of this, even if you have to sell your body on the streets to do it. (Or if you're smart, someone else's.)

Switchblade II (Gremlin) - A huge epic of arcade blasting and platform action, this is the game that won't make you ashamed to talk to a MegaDrive owner.

BORROW - you might like this, you might not. Take a look at it and make up your own mind.

P.P. Hammer And His Pneumatic Weapon (Demonware) - A pretty and unusual derivative of the 8-bit classic Lode Runner, P.P. suffers from some sloppy design and over-complication, but it's the kind of game that can keep you coming back to it for months. Check it out.

BURN - if someone gives you a free copy of this, smash them repeatedly about the head with a heavy object until they take it back and incinerate it.

Hydra (Domark) - Not the most inspiring coin-op ever, but this conversion is so utterly lame it's not even worth the price of one go on the arcade game. Tie it up and chuck it in a river.

REVIEW

CHALLENGE GOLF

On-Line

Amiga, ST, PC

£24.99

The recent release of Electronic Arts' brilliant PGA Tour Golf was thought by many to be just about the last word in computer golf games. On-Line clearly disagree, and they've brought us this low-key, no-license release which they presumably hope will clear up what's left of the market. Sad to report, though, there's not much chance of that. Despite being loaded with enough options to make even Mrs Thatcher a little bit undecided (1-4 players, any number of computer opponents, skill levels, various types of competition and practice matches, etc etc), Challenge Golf is decidedly second division material. The game seems largely to play itself, the player's control inputs having minimal bearing on the actual flight of the ball. Graphically it's extremely crude, and bugged into the bargain (the 3D replay, for example, doesn't relate to the actual shot, and sometimes even shows the ball bouncing on water). Soundwise there's very little to get excited about (the 'sound off' option included is a complete waste of code space, or possibly a little programmer's joke) and in general the game just doesn't have the right feel to it. Putting in particular is dreadful, with short putts apt to bounce off the hole (don't ask me why) and come straight back at you, ending up further away than they started.

This game doesn't have anything to recommend it over PGA Tour except the price, and if it's price you're concerned with you can buy World Class Leaderboard for eight quid. (And get a much better game into the bargain). Give it a miss.

PLAYING TIP

CJ'S ELEPHANT ANTICS

Code Masters - Amiga, C64

For an infinite supply of the cutest character currently doing the rounds, simply type 'ITCHY ARSEHOLES' (including space) on the title screen. (For the C64 replace 'ITCHY' with 'HAIRY')

HELP MA BOAB!

What's that you say? You just can't kill that last end-of-level baddie? Simply can't find the secret room with the crucial power-up? Don't know how to deal with the wrinkly old man with the magic stick? If you've got a problem with a game, there are three things you can do:

(1) Give up eating, drinking, working and sleeping until you've solved it (and probably given yourself a coronary into the bargain).

(2) Admit defeat, throw away your computer in disgust, grow a beard and go and live in a cave, throwing rocks at passers-by occasionally and eating moss to get by in your new life as a complete failure.

(3) Get some other mug to do it for you. The other mug can be found at

HELP MA BOAB!, Games Week, New Computer Express, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, Avon, BA1 2BW. State the name of the game and your specific problem, and what it is you're after (a tip, a cheat mode or whatever). If I don't know how to do it, you can bet I'll know someone who does.

HATSTAND CORNER

Impress your chums with irrelevant but interesting snippets that'll make you the most well-informed games fan on the block. This week: Chuck Rocks.

Charles 'Black Francis' Thompson plays video games. 'So what?', I hear you cry, 'so do I'. Well, that's as may be, but you're not the singer of top-notch indie rockers The Pixies, whose new 'Planet Of Sound' EP contains a track called 'Theme From Narc', an interpretation of the music from the Williams coin-op converted last year by Ocean. Coincidence or what? I think we should be told.