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Hordes of mechanical invaders threaten to dominate the Earth (oh no, not again!) and so must be blasted out of existence. You pilot both a helicopter gunship and an F-14 jet plane on a seek-and-destroy mission behind enemy lines.

Down one side of the screen is a column of five icons: vulcan, 3-way, bomb, lazer and missile. Down the other is a score and lives panel with a smart bomb sitting down at the bottom of the screen. In the centre of the screen is the playing area which either comes out towards you or scrolls down the screen.

The first stage of the game shows your plane diving vertically through the clouds and shooting down enemy aircraft. Eventually it reaches an aircraft carrier and then hovers vertically ever it as you try to sink the ship. (Pretty smart plane, huh?) Level two is reminiscent of Flying Shark or Xevious - a vertically scrolling level with both ground and air targets to blast and avoid. That's about it as far as gameplay goes: shoot, bomb, die.

On level one, you get a terrible impression of moving towards the ground; the clouds leap up at you in big steps, but slow ones and colour is very scarce on all levels. Sound effects are tacky, but you do at least get a decent tune on the title screen and in between stages.

Soar through wave after wave of flying death in your armour-laden helicopter, scream through the skies in your F-14 as you take on seemingly limitless hordes of mechanoid invaders. At least that's what the instructions say you do in this Konami coin-op conversion. Instructions like that should always be taken with a pinch of salt, but the ones with Typhoon should come complete with a share in a salt mine. Have a good look before you even consider investing your hard-earned cash.

Score 50,000 points.

One of those games that starts really badly; and then gets a little bit better before sliding off the bottom of the scale again. Treat with suspicion, unless you're a jet/helicopter gun ship freak.

Lousy choice of colours

Graphics 48% N. Lacking in colour. N. Little sense of movement in plane stages.

Sonics 51% P. Good tunes.

Grab Factor 46% N. First stage is ultra-tedious. After that it gets better.

Staying Power 53% P. Eight levels to go through. N. Not that difficult to complete them though.

Overall 51% Typhoon? More of a storm in a thimble.