Its 1990, I'm sitting in front of my new Amiga 500 and I've just put Shadow of the Beast II into the floppy drive.

The drive whirs and the intro begins. I sit in awe as animation frames flicker before my eyes and burn their image into my soul. A dark stormy night and we move to a mountain top where a magician morphs into a bird. We cut to see a small cottage and we hear the cries of a newly born child. A large flying creature appears, it breaks through the roof and the baby is snatched from the arms of its parents. We fade out.

We fade in to the title screen; a strange and foreign world comes into view. Pan pipes begin to play a mysterious yet calming tune. This is simply the most realistic instrumental noise I've ever heard coming out of a computer. The introduction has moved me, and the haunting sounds of the pan pipes cause me to shed a tear. I take a breath, I pick up my joystick and I begin to play.

Ten dull minutes of uninspiring gameplay passes and I turn the computer off, then on again. I load Shadow of the Beast II. I re-watch the intro. The pan pipes start. I listen to the theme tune. I reboot. Intro, theme tune, reboot. Intro, theme tune, reboot...

This game is a technical marvel that is only let down by being shit.

GRAPHICS: Intro
SOUND: Theme Tune
GAMEPLAY : Reboot
RODENT RATING: Move along, nothing to play here
RODENT CASH - £1.99

"Great music, pish game"