"Mamma Mia! Eh, Luigi, lets-a have-a some extra pepperoni over here." That isn't a direct quote from Codename: Panzers Phase Two, but it might as well be. With the snippets of speech your soldiers spout, they could easily be pizza restauranteurs cooking up a 15-inch family special on the baking hot front of an M13-40 desert tank.

Quite why serious strategy game programmers think it's an amusing idea to have your Italian tank commander respond "Mamma Mia" to one of your orders (yes, they do actually say this), we'll never understand. After the three hundredth time of hearing, it becomes even more painful. Please, developers; "Yes, Sir" - or "Si, Signore" - is fine.

Ahem. Anyway, that's a minor irritation, and fortunately there's plenty to be positive about here. However, we'd best make it clear from the start that this is a sequel in the typical tradition of successful games. In other words, it doesn't change much: the core interface, graphics and gameplay remain almost identical to the original Panzers.

And in many respects that's a good thing. The beauty of Panzers was that it had a simple and streamlined interface, which could be used to effortlessly employ a massive diversity of tactical options. Panzers Two retains this, along with the system whereby you earn prestige points for your performance in battle, which can be used to purchase upgraded units.

It's not all the same, obviously. There are minor additions, such as night battles which require strategic decisions about whether your armour units should use their headlights, for example. The in-between mission cut-scenes are more polished and the campaign plot-lines boast a more satisfying story.

More importantly, the mission design is impressive, with plenty of variety in the goals, mid-mission cut-scenes and shifting objectives. They're more challenging too, as the computer AI has been improved. Although you can still exploit holes in it - sometimes an enemy tank won't move as you shell it into oblivion - generally the computer will shift its forces to intelligent positions, retreating to supply depots to repair and so on.

Along with the three single-player campaigns, there's a new multi-player mode which is won by securing various objectives rather than killing off all the enemy units. Panzers Two also has a level editor included, and although the casual player probably won't appreciate that, budding armchair generals can design their own "what-if" scenarios.

While this sequel isn't all that different to the original, it does make some impressive additions, including a new mission editor, added multi-player mode and improved computer AI. We could lament about how the developers might have done more, but quite frankly we were too busy enjoying this worthy strategy game.