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Considering the amount of memory available on the BBC when using hi-res graphics, it is something of a wonder that anyone should try to mimic a game as graphically complex as Battle Zone. The arcade original employs vector-scanning techniques in a similar way to an oscilloscope. To simulate this on the Beeb requires some pretty complex line-drawing algorithms, and unfortunately this shows in Battletank.

For those who don't know the scenario, you move a rather futuristic tank around an isolated plateau, taking potshots at any enemy tanks you can get in your sights. Battletank doesn't sport the landers and flying saucers of the original, but does add a colour element. Control is via keyboard only - the game wouldn't lend itself to joysticks anyway. The main problem is that everything moves rather slowly and jerkily. It is very difficult to get the opposing tank into your sights, not because of its agility but due to the resolution of screen movement. To achieve reasonable tank speed, Superior has had to make each movement step quite large. The same is true for the scrolling of the landscape.

The program appears to have been written in Mode 5, a decision I would question in view of the greater resolution available in Mode 4. Since the original game is in only one colour, it would perhaps have been a better bet to stick to this scheme and drawn more accurate tanks and pyramids.

I have a lot of admiration for the programming skill involved in writing Battletank, but still feel the game loses its interest quite quickly because of the lack of variety.