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A conversion of one of my Spectrum favourites of last year which never got the attention it deserved, Braxx Bluff casts you in the role of rescuer of the three members on a mission to the planet Prolon.

Your mission has six phases. First you must boost out of orbit and guide your craft to the surface of the planet using a guidance system and retro rockets. If you don't score high enough, it's back to the beginning. So indeed with the following phases where you must seek the rover vehicle, then pilot it through a swamp, a ruined city and a desert whilst shooting marauding creatures, and finally, skim over the surface of an ocean, avoiding rocks until the base ship is found. Take too long though, and the crew die before you can get to them.

Player facilities are very full, keys can be redefined, and your game position can be saved not only to tape, but into memory, to be recalled when you botch the next bit, so you don't. have to go right back to the beginning. Well done Micromega.

Stereo sound is good, but the 3-D graphics which so impressed me on the Spectrum don't seem to have been improved any for this more sophisticated screen and are beginning to show their age now, though the game itself seems easier to play.

Even so, I find this very addictive, interesting and enjoyable, though a little over priced.

D.M.