Rage Of Magic 2

Harking Back To the halcyon days of Double Dragon and Golden Axe, Rage Of Magic II is a side-scrolling beat 'em up which combines melee and magical attacks into one all-out-action retro romp.

Driven by a nonsensical plot that charts the story of a power struggle in a mystical land, you must navigate your way through a myriad of increasingly taxing levels, beating seven shades of excrement out of hordes of enemies. Despite the trite storyline, low quality sound and jerky animation, this hack-and-slash adventure does prove surprisingly entertaining, thanks to a superbly intuitive keyboard layout, lashings of unadulterated violence and more enemy types than you can shake a sapling at.

What's more, you constantly find yourself controlling different characters, meaning the game takes longer to get stale than a vacuum-packed loaf of Kingsmill Long Life.

If you hanker for the glory days of side-scrolling beat 'em ups, then Rage Of Magic II might just be the game that brings the past flooding back.