With Bug Eyes, big is beautiful

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After completing her mission to destroy the Xxabanean flagship agent Zelda was captured and imprisoned in the depths of a desolate asteroid.

You are agent Starman and must negotiate the asteroid's defence systems and find the 25 keys which are required to free her.

Neither the title nor the rather mediocre cassette cover do anything to entice you to buy this game, which is a pity as the game is a stunner.

Bug Eyes 2 could be summed up by the term "big is beautiful".

Each of the screens in this ladders and levels game looks like it has been painted with a four inch brush.

The 'graphics for both the background and the sprites are big, chunky and colourful.

The simplicity of each screen does not necessarily make the game easy. It has been designed in such a way that you feel each screen is merely a tiny portion of a larger unseen screen.

Some of these sub-screens are linked directly - for instance, falling off the edge of a cliff will take you straight into the screen below.

Other screens are accessed via the lift shafts which riddle the asteroid.

On leaving the lift you are hoisted on to a Sinclair C5 and driven to the next screen.

You enter the asteroid with five lives and a life is lost each time your oxygen supply is exhausted.

You can fall from any height without suffering damage but contact with an alien will deplete your oxygen supply.

The types of aliens range from huge spotted caterpillars to enormous dinosaurs which fly with the aid of jet packs.

Playing Bug Eyes 2 is relaxing and enjoyable, and for my money it is one of the best games of its type to date.

Carol Barrow