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Alien Syndrome is one of the unsung heroes of the Sega stable. Everyone has heard of and played OutRun; most people at least have heard of Afterburner and Thunderblade - but somehow Alien Syndrome never quite made it into the super game league.

The game introduces two space travellers with the rather mundane names of Rick and Mary. You would have thought Sega could have dreamt up something slightly more exotic. I mean Rick and Mary. It's like something you'd see taped above the windscreen of a battered old Escort.

The game pitches the dynamic due against a nasty bunch of aliens who have imprisoned several hostages on a massive floating prison fortress.

The games plays in the Gauntlet-style. It scrolls in all directions and you see an overhead view of the action as your players explore the spaceship searching for hostages and extra weapons.

Just as in Gauntlet, the game is at its best in two-player mode - meaning that you have to talk to each other to decide which direction you want to go in.

Unlike Gauntlet, there is no need to sequabble about the direction selected as several maps are available on the walls for you to plan your route.

The hostages look sort of cute and helpless - waving their arms around to try and attract your attention. They don't need to really - as you have to collect them all otherwise you cannot proceed to the next level.

On the walls of the prison are various letters and question marks. The question marks are bonus points and the letters represent weapons. If you are going to have any real chance of completing a level, you will have to bag a powerful laser or flame thrower. Certain of the weapons are not quite as good as others. Take a tip from me and avoid the 'FB' gun. My fellow games tester suggested that I would be better off hitting the aliens with my handbag than using the old 'FB' on them.

Just as in the coin-op, there are seven levels in the C64 version. It will take a mean games player to beat the final level - with its huge alien following you around the scrolling terrain.

Should you manage to get the better of this alien (already having rescued the hostages) then you will be treated to a picture of all the grateful hostages waving at you in appreciation of your heroes.

That is really all there is to Alien Syndrome. It is a frenetic rush and blast-style game. Just a little bit of strategy in the way you tackle each level.

If you don't rescue all the hostages and scarper before the time runs out, the whole ship will blow. A most impressive blow it is too - filling the whole screen with exploding orange fireballs.

One of the best features of the arcade version was the screams - especially from Mary.

The C64 has impressive sound effects, with a good thumping laser sound and believeable explosions - alas no screams though.

Ace is promising that the 16-bit versions of the game will have near-identical sound effects to the coin-op.

Alien Syndrome is at its best as a two-player game. The team work aspects and opportunities it provides for races to grab the good weapons and to see who can rescue most hostages adds greatly to the basic design.

Your companion is most helpful when you exit a level. There is an unpleasant surprise waiting for you at the end of each level - in the shape of one vast, ugly alien who is determined to stop you progressing further.

One of these aliens is featured on the front cover of C&VG, drawn by artist Simon Roberts. This slimy mass of eyeballs is called a Tacophy and resides at the end of the fifth level. Another huge alien that has to be confronted is the Hugger - a skull on a mass of slime and the Asophy - a reptillian alien that jumps around the screen at great speed.

You have to have a good few lives left when you approach these big aliens. It also helps to tackle them as a team - with two lasers trained on them giving them hell.

As you progress through the levels, the layout of the ship becomes more complex - with narrow bridges, swamps, electric lakes, and gates that need to be blasted to rescue the hostages. All the time the aliens are swarming around you - constant firing is a necessity as you walk.

Alien Syndrome is already available on the Sega system and was favourably review in Mean Machines a couple of issues back.

Ace will be publishing the home versions of the game for the C64, Spectrum, Amstrad and Atari ST. This review has been mainly based on the C64 version.

Yes, the seven levels of gameplay are based on a multi-load principle but - Ace can be forgiven for this. As Ace boss Tim Langdell puts it: "Even on the coin-op itself, the game is basically seven different levels. The load system will be smooth and won't interfere with gameplay."

By anyone's standards, this has to be judged a very competent conversion. In my opinion, Ace has done a better job than Sega managed themselves when they converted it for the Sega games console.

As much as possible has been crammed into the game - right from the title screen onwards. If Ace can maintain this standard in their conversions then gamers are in for a treat. Ace game.