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With a name like Sardonic, which means grimly mocking or cynical, and developed by Penisoft from Portugal, I wasn't expecting very much and this game lived up to my expectations.

This is a Spectrum version of the PC game released in 2003 by the same guy, MadAxe (Aka. José Mário Machado from Portugal), who seems to be a one man band. In this vertical shooter you must destroy all the enemies that come straight down the screen on each level to get to the boss. There are five very similar levels with no backgrounds and a bunch of randomly dropped power-ups you can collect for extra fire, points, smart bombs and lives. Enemy ships are Blue going straight down the screen, with single bullets going straight down the screen.

Green going straight down the screen, with double bullets going straight down the screen. White going very fast straight down the screen, without bullets and Red also going straight down the screen requiring a couple of hits to destroy. End of level bosses.

Going straight down the screen? Nope, from side to side like a giant, demented Space Invader firing lots of bullets that go straight down the screen. The almost complete lack of variation means it's a tedious plod of a game that an average six year old could complete on the first attempt.

It's a shame because it's presented well and you can see the potential. A missed opportunity for what could have been a very good game.

Overall 65%