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Icarus is the first release from new games publishers Mandarin, although it's programmed by Powerhouse, the team behind Dunjunz. The scenario is in the Plan B mould; wander around a spaceship and try to wrest control of the central computer, all the while shooting at the computer's defence droids. It's called Icarus because the spaceship is out of control and plunging towards the sun. Only by getting to the computer can you avert disaster.

However, the game looks nothing like Plan B. Its main novelty is that two can play, and it's certainly easier with an ally. There are twenty levels to fight your way through, with lifts to destroy and droids to kill. Parts of each level are protected by force fields, which can only be turned off by pushing buttons in a particular sequence. With two people playing, one can crack the code while the other provides covering fire. But if you're playing on your own you have to destroy all the lifts and droids first or you'll probably die. The problems are nicely judged, easy to start with but getting harder. But like most of these sort of games, there is a certain 'sameness' about every level.

The movement is quite smooth, and there's lots of it. There's a lot of action and rapid firing, and it takes more than one hit to kill each droid. But the sprites are relatively small and the sound is rudimentary. I found it fun to play, and easy to get the hang of (you can pick which keys to use) and it's one of those rare games that works well on the Electron too. Overall, pretty good value.