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*Zap* those Reds right where it hurts the most, *drown* in a tidal wave of American patriotism, paranoia and propaganda! Yes, folks, the Cold War's really hotting up and you can play your very own part in it with this tasteless game from US Gold.

Your mission is nothing less than to prevent a Soviet nuclear attack on American cities, and then lead a commando squadron in an attack on the Russkies' Defence Centre. 'If you are successful', the blurb crows, 'you will set Soviet military strength back ten years!'

Ho hum.

But if you can forget this gruesome scenario and sit through the Stars and Stripes while the game loads, you'll discover a rather enjoyable five part shoot-'em-up.

First, you get a view of the northern hemisphere with the missiles winging their way from Minsk to Miami. In a few minutes, they'll detonate and the game will be up. So it's time to scramble some planes.

Into the hangar you stride, purposeful, brave and with something of John Wayne's unsteadiness. You get into a plane and take off, heading for the doors. Then you crash. It takes quite a few goes before you get the hang of thrust and inertia and can make it to the stratosphere.

You swoop down, in this second part, to a Zaxxon-style zap. Hopping over hedges and walls you blast tanks and buildings while avoiding the guided missile on your tail. Survive this and you get a crack at the missile silos. This is the most tedious part of the game - you just have to fire into the slits.

Next comes the Defence Centre in Moscow. Armed with a mortar you attack the building which bears a strange resemblance to the Kremlin.

You have to shoot all the soldiers and tanks, and hit all the doors, before you're allowed onto the last stage the Reactor.

Once in the Reactor, you must kill the fiendishly clever Red robots with your disc grenades. The robots are invulnerable to frontal assault, so you have to throw your grenades at the back wall and get them on the rebound. This is quite good fun, and quite difficult.

Using the demo routine you can engage the action and practice on the more difficult screens.

And that's about it. Raid Over Moscow is an above-average shoot-'em-up marred by its gross scenario. Goodness knows what the Russians are going to retaliate with when they start producing games.

Another game from US Gold on the war theme, and I think this will have much more success and a bigger impact than their previous blockbuster Beach Head.

A different idea made brilliant by the graphics and smooth scrolling of the screen, the planes and also of the bird's eye view of the ground. It is also good in the sense that the game offers several different tasks.

This one from the land of baseball and mam's apple pie, lets us Brits indulge in another American passion - commie bashing. Politics and morals aside, a game like Raid Over Moscow is just what my trusty Quickshot and I enjoy after a tiring day.

Initially, manoeuvring your supersonic jet out of the hanger is frustrating, but with perseverance you'll soon be flying like Biggles through a smoothly-rolling, continually varying, Soviet landscape.

If a game bears the US Gold label, you can usually bet your joystick that it will be pretty good.

Excellent graphics include a view of the northern hemisphere, fighter plans which turn beautifully, and a very lifelike pilot marching to his aircraft.

The graphics were equalled by the sound, a highlight being the incredibly realistic whining build up of the fighter's engine. During loading, a superb rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, and other tunes popular with our cousins across the pond, are played.