Product Reviews

Whatever God reckons, the real joy of Christmas gifts is receiving. And let's face it, for parents, yuletide can be a bit one-sided. The prospect of shelling out an arm and a leg on a Gigatronix X7500 Pro Electrobot becomes less enticing when you know that in return you'll get a miniature model of Santa, constructed lovingly (if negligently) from crepe paper and a toilet roll. If you're lucky, the little dears will have spelled their name right. I've been there as a child, and I know who got the best deal. What parents need is a toy that appears to be aimed at the kids - but will still enthrall Mum and Dad when the little darlings are packed off to bed on Christmas Night. Lego Spybots are such a toy.

These PC-controlled robots come in kit form. But this is not Lego as you remember it. Weird, customised widgets, gears and fibre optics take the once-cutting edge Lego Technics into the cyber age. Construction is a breeze - once you've figured out that you need to insert the supplied

Then it's time for the real business in hand: secret spy missions! A world map displays a range of challenges, involving either one or two robots and one or two players. Spybots can be programmed by the PC to tackle renegade robots, raid secret energy mines and defeat international terrorist organisations. Before you know it, the kids will be tearing up the lounge, constructing assault courses for their new toy. As well as accepting commands from the user's controller, each Spybot can sense the distance and direction of objects, controllers or other robots - and, with the aid of a fibre optic on its roof, react to light.

As a construction kit, Spybotics provides limited entertainment - parts are so specialised, it's hard to imagine most kids having the patience to figure out how to build anything other than the basic bot. Getting ready for a Spybot mission can be trying, too - some require detailed preparation, and programming your Spybot's controls is a fiddly job. But it's also the perfect excuse for adults to get in on the act. And when the thrill of international espionage loses its lustre, Spybots double as damn good remote-control war machines, complete with 'real' working laser and 'cloaking device'. What Dad wouldn't want that?