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Some day a software house will capture the licence to a top film and turn it into a brilliant game. Of all the film titles currently hoping to make money from the micro, most tend to be a disappointment when it comes to the game. It's the name that sells.

Electric Dreams has scooped one of the hottest films of 1986 and, in my humble opinion, have made perhaps the best movie conversion game around. It has atmosphere - the very ingredient which made the films such winners. Remember those magic moments in the film where the whole audience seems to jump at the same time? Well I found myself jumping at parts of the game as an alien rushed at me. Great stuff!

On to the plot. Warrant Officer Ripley, sole-survivor of a terrifying encounter with an alien aboard a space freighter. has been rescued. Later she is horrified to learn that the planet where she first encountered the aliens, has now been inhabited by a colony of space engineers and their families. All contact has now been lost with the colony. The worst is feared.

Reluctantly, Ripley agrees to head a squad of elite marines to the planet. On their arrival they find the engineers' base is deserted. As night falls they find it isn't just insects that crawl out of the woodwork... it's aliens, lots of them, with slavering jaws and a mean appetite.

There are a huge number of rooms to explore and Electric Dreams has included a map to help you.

You have control of all six members of the team. At least half the screen is taken up with their details. The crew can only be controlled one at a time. Their faces are displayed at the centre of the screen. And the top half of the screen is then taken up with the view from their portable cameras.

Each crew member can be moved through doors, either by opening them or blasting them with a smart gun. It's also possible to direct the other crew members to move to certain rooms and these commands will be carried out while you can get on with other business. You soon get used to switching between crew.

As they move through the base they will find bio-mechanoid growths cover the walls. These must be blasted away. But be careful, where these growths are the chances are they'll be an alien. Although alarms sound when they're near, you may not see the monster before it attacks. Sometimes they sneak up from behind! But more than likely you'll be able to get a few shots at the Alien. But try not to shoot him in front of a doorway. They tend to bleed a lot there and this acidic fluid will prove fatal.

Although the game isn't stunningly original in terms of an idea, you quickly find yourself being drawn into and getting absorbed in the play.

Graphically it's very nice. In fact you probably get more of an idea what the aliens look like from the game than the film.