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Not since Ikari Warriors has the C&VG office seen such bloodshed! Yup, we've been fighting over the joystick again - this time just to get to grips with Imagine's instant smash arcade conversion Arkanoid.

Our arcade ace Clare Edgeley raved about the Taito coin-op when it first appeared - and now we're going to rave about the computer conversions.

OK, so in all reality Arkanoid is a revamped version of Breakout, that ancient game which us ancient gamesplayers sometimes brush the cobwebs off to relive great moments of gaming history.

Trouble is, Arkanoid is just awesomely addictive and extremely playable. You're hooked from the moment you load up the game.

So what's it all about? Well, you're in charge of a Vaus craft - sounds like some sort of German rodent - and you're supposed to be trapped in space.

Armed only with an energy bolt, you have to break down mysterious barriers preventing your escape. These barriers are built of "bricks", Breakout - see!

Anyway, you have to blast away at these bricks by using the Vaus craft as a bat - hitting the energy bolt back and forth off the walls. Energy capsules drop down from the wall as you destroy it. Collect these, they are useful items. Each has a code letter on it which lets you know what effect it has...

S: Slows down the speed of the energy bolt, making it easier to position yourself.

C: Enables you to catch the bolt, move to the desired position and then fire.

E: Expands the Vaus craft, giving you more thance to deflect the bolt.

D: Disrupts the bolt into three separate components thereby giving you three times the effect.

L: Arms your Vaus with a laser, allowing it to shoot bricks and aliens.

B: Breaks the section of the wall enabling your Vaus craft an alternative escape route to slip through to the next level.

P: Awards you an extra life. On-screen displays show your current score, hi-score, number of lives remaining and level attained. Points are awarded between 50 and 120 for knocking out a brick, depending on the colour. Collecting a capsule is 1,000 and hitting an alien scores 100 points.

There are six levels of differing complexity. You'll need to work out a good strategy for each screen to succeed - but always be ready to allow for the unexpected incident - that odd bounce, etc.

Opinion is divided here - but the C64-ers among the team rate Krakout a nose in front of Arkanoid simply because of the joystick response.