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Yee-hah! It's underpants over the strides time again, folks, cos Flash (ah-hah!) Gordon's here at last to save the universe front the evil Ming who's targetted earth with his planet killer missiles. All this mayhem and excitement comes to you courtesy of the new MAD game, Flash Gordon. And you get three games for the price of one here - its a sort of triple-decker sandwich all scrunged down into one game.

Part one of tins terror trio finds our hero crash-landed in the jungle and forced to find the fearsome Prince Barin's cave. Once Barin's been found, he might be persuaded to reveal the whereabouts of the evil Ming, and to give Flash the means to get to him. This bit's a strategy/mazey type of game, and you can't progress to parts two and three until you've completed it. Flash can leap creeks, and jump over, fly kick or shoot his jungly foes which range from incey wincey spiders to grumpy gorillas. You'll only escape this jungle peril by mapping and correlating this to the on-screen inset map. Lives can be lost, but your bullets can be replenished from ammo boxes secreted in the shrubbery. You don't score points, but you do lose time - and the on-screen clock. which only gives you twenty-four hours to save the universe, speeds up every time you tumble in the jungle.

Once you've located Barin, it's kind of kung fu time, 'cos the second section is a martial arts simulation. Simply put - you've got to biff Barin more than he biffs you. You have thirteen punch and kick options, so there's a chance you may be victorious - especially as Barin weakens the longer the fight continues.

Once Barin's been beaten, you go on to phase three. This is a whizz-bang arcade shoot 'em up as you zoom on your jet bike after Ming. You've got to blast him to smithereens before he blasts earth to bits, but first you've got to zap the robot guards, meander through the minefields and keep your energy topped up. Not an easy task, but it can't pose problems for a megahero, can it?

Sheer value for money outweighs the gluey graphics, making this fair on the wallet. If not the Flashest game around.

A three-in-one arcade game based on the comic strip hero. It may be a cheapie, but it's a bundle of fun.