Will Breakout clones ever cease to appear? No, probably not, and to be honest this can hardly be called a clone - mutant is probably more accurate.

The scenario is the usual one. There are a set of bricks and you have a bat and ball. You propel the ball towards the bricks and when it hits one it vanishes and bounces back at an obscure angle. You then have to intercept the ball and send it back again. So far, so good. But in this case the bricks are all in the middle of the screen and your bat can go all the way round in a circle, the ball can fly straight through the pack of bricks and come hurtling out the other side - or at any other angle - and you have to be there to get it.

Like most newer break-outs (or perhaps, break-ups) bonus items come spiralling out towards you. A little panel comes up to tell you what each new item does when it first appears.

In the two-player option both bats are on-screen simultaneously but they can't go past each other; instead they push. This makes for some interesting interaction, although you could team up as well.

But what really makes this game are the graphics. Every level consists of stunning creations, and in almost every case the so-called bricks are not particularly brick-shaped - in fact, there's almost every other shape except rectangular.

Every fourth level provides a challenge stage where you have to shoot little sprites that spiral from a not-quite-central location - it's all very infuriating.

Ballarena is polished and professional as well as beautifully put together. Sound is used to excellent effect, with loads of digitised snippets that range from fun to aggravating.

All the usual options are available, key definition, mouse/keyboard/joystick use, pause, sound control and a high score table. In fact, it's totally brilliant.

Lazarus