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It's taken a long time coming but Battlezone has at last been converted for the Atari VCS. One obvious and quite welcome change from the original machine is the inclusion of full colour graphics.

Apart from the addition of colour, the Atari cartridge follows the theme of the arcade original religiously. The top of the screen houses the radar scanner allowing the player to keep a track of the enemy's movements. You control the last remaining tank in your company's division. The impossible task that faces you is to destroy the opposing tanks, which attack from all directions, even from behind.

The tank can be moved in four directions: left, right, forwards and backwards. Enemy tanks are destroyed by placing your gunsight over the target and firing a shell. Tanks that sneak up from behind have to be dealt with quickly because the enemy has no qualms about shooting you in the back.

As the game progresses hostile reinforcements are brought in. These include flying saucers which don't threaten your safety but are difficult to destroy and yellow space invader type creatures who move at speed.

One feature of the game I didn't like was the flashing effect produced after the tank had been blown up. I thought it was messy and, after a few games, it really started to get on my nerves.

An excellent reproduction of the arcade original considering the limitations of the Atari VCS.