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An android attack is far worse than a mugging. In the game of that name, the attack results in you exploding into little bits, like a shattered vase. This is an arcade-style game, in the Pacman tradition.

Trapped in a maze, you must defend yourself from a variety of androids by shooting them down, or laying mines and blowing them up. Some androids leave a trail of dots, others the occasional fruit, and eating the latter will restore your energy reserves. If your energy drops to zero, you're a gonner because the androids will soon home in on you.

The game has nineteen levels of play. and if you start on level one, it's theoretically possible to work your way all the way up. Initially, there are just four white androids, which are things that bounce up and down on hydraulic legs, as if they were built at the Citroen factory. These are not much trouble, and explode after just one shot. But purple androids appear from eggs laid in the maze, and they need three shots to go down.

As you go on, red and blue androids appear, which are even worse. On being shot, a blue splits into two reds, and a red into two whites. All this means the maze can get pretty crowded, with a total of sixteen white androids at any one time and all of them after you!

The evilest android is a yellow face called Smiley, who floats like the Cheshire Cat, disregarding walls, and who is totally indestructible. Only if all the dots are eaten will he give up your scent.

The pace of the game is always fast, and the action hots up rapidly. At level ten, the maze becomes invisible, and with each level there's always something happening.

Android Attack has good, solid, Defender-style sound effects, and it even requires a certain amount of strategic thought. Variations on arcade games can be tedious and unimaginative, but Android Attack is better than average. Apart from the rather awkward choice of keyboard keys to play it with, the game is recommended.