Or, Boulderdash done properly. Whilst the former is a classic, Earth Shaker redefines the genre and is built for the Spectrum. Full of colour, neat puzzles and charming graphics Earth Shaker is an accessible, addictive game.

Earth Shaker would have made a fine original budget game, yet it ended up 'merely' becoming one of the finest YS reader games ever.

Pacman, but isometric. Retaining the 'jump' ability from Pac-Land, this version of Pacman added a new element to the game. Pacmania brought the aged maze game back into contemporary times.

It remains as fresh today as it did then. Pacmania is full of the addictiveness and pure enjoyment of the game is present. This may seem a 'weak' endorsement but this is Pacman! Just play it and revel in its' goodness.

An arcade adventure par excellence. A definite triple-A release, Myth was produced to the highest possible quality. Four levels to play through; each one is full of little touches that show you how polished Myth is.

It's typical System 3 - there are puzzles to solve, BEU portions and platforms to jump on or over. Like Head over Heels, Mythis one of the most 'complete' Speccy games created. Play Myth and you'll be drawn into an experience that few games have equalled (or beaten).

A bit twee and the colour scheme can addle your eyes but other than that Super Wonder Boy is a great platform game. You can get a wonderful sense of achievement as you traverse and complete the levels.

SWB is from a time when good games weren't over-complicated. SWB is one of these games; you simply enjoy playing the game. There's no sub-quests, complicated story-arcs to follow or even multiple paths to choose and follow.

For all its' limitations, Super Wonder Boy is just fun to play. Accessible, enjoyable, playable.

There had been BEU's before Renegade hit the scene. What made them all redundant was the fact that Renegade had you street fighting (in the proper sense of the term). The game has you up against more than one attacker at once who work together to do you in.

Add whip-bearing prostitutes, hoods with nasty knives, a decent set of tunes to listen to and you're almost there. What makes Renegade powerful is the feeling when you knee someone in their bits - it's almost that painful.

A bit too easy but that's not stopped me playing it time and time again. It's the 'daddy' of BEUs.

An unlikely hero trapped within a clever and original puzzle game (actually it's broadly similar to the 16bit Bubble Ghost but as that wasn't on the Speccy). Steg is actually a story of lone parent hardship as you try and feed your ever-demanding offspring.

Each level provides you with a high-quality challenge, objects to manipulate and aid you in your task. As full-price as you can get for a budget game, Steg delivers exactly what you need in a puzzle game. No salt added.

Or Mario visits Namco-land. *Ahem*. I loved the arcade version of this and waited an absolute age for the Spectrum version. Needless to say whilst I'm sure it's not the best conversion around, it's still fantastic entertainment.

And play it you will. Pac-fans will love it, platform gamers; it's got just what you need while maintaining that certain something which makes Pac-man (and by default Pac-Land) special.

Subtitled 'the Rosetta Stones' and thankfully the best DD game yet. As scrolling BEUs go, DD3 is one of the best. It refines the genre, borrowing elements from other BEUs and the arcades.

There's more than enough content to the game; there's no way you can complete this within a couple of goes. You have your mission explained to you as you progress through the game which is a nice touch.

DD3 whilst not perfect is a satisfying way to fill that BEU gap.

The ultimate isometric arcade adventure! Blindingly original, HoH delivers pots of gaming pleasure (ooer). With five distinct regions to explore, you don't get bored of the graphical style.

And the puzzles! HoH combines arcade skills with the old grey matter in such a way that it will have you tearing your hair out. In a good way. And then you'll work out how to solve the puzzle and you'll move onto the next. And so on.

Head Over Heels is one of the most complete Spectrum gaming experiences you will ever play. Ensure you do.

Pipemania above Head over Heels? What's going on here? Well, for me Pipemania is an excellent puzzle diversion. It's a simple (very simple) concept yet it can keep you entertained for hours at a time.

This puzzle game isn't linear; even though the game's level based it's got plenty of 'give'. Very user friendly (passwords every 5 levels and a bonus level 'just for fun').

It's the immediacy of play, not needing a degree in physics to get hooked and the hours of fun you'll have that puts Pipemania where it is.