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You'll be very impressed by the first few seconds of this game. Up on the screen comes the city you have to protect. It's very pretty and extends over about five screen-widths. Well worth protecting...!

A slight disappointment sets in when you see the spacecraft at your disposal, a rather primitive model, little more than a purple hexagon. Never mind, it flies very smoothly and makes a super noise when you fire. But then the aliens start to arrive. Oh dear.

They appear to have escaped from a discarded Space Invaders machine: small coloured shapes with no detail and little animation.

Actually there are three main types of aliens: the airborne invaders, a little row of 'commandos' and a swirling neutron cloud which is accompanied by a guided fireball.

None of these is very impressive to look at. But the game does have a certain compulsion, because each alien wave is destroyed in a different way. The invaders you take out a row at a time, firing straight up as in the original game.

You're just getting into this when a dinky little tune starts playing to alert you to the commandos running along the bottom of the screen. The best way of obliterating them is to move ahead of them, get down to head-level and then open fire. Brutal but effective.

To get the neutron cloud you have to hit its centre from directly overhead. You can fire in any of four directions by pointing the joystick while you press the fire button. But you can't fire and move at the same time.

Despite the graphical limitations, the game is nicely presented with fourteen different levels, including one K-Tel have thoughtfully provided for you to practise on.

So, a strange mixture. Some very advanced features, some very primitive. Look before you fork out the cash.