Beat the braindrain

Now for something completely different: Your brain is under attack and your six (yes, six) senses are on the defensive.

Black tumours and mutated sense cells are roaming your mind and you must zoom around zapping them to restore your sanity - or else be doomed to playing weird computer games for the rest of your life. Well, that's what it says here.

Crisis isn't a game of strategy, it doesn't need much in the way of tactics, just blast the baddies and consume the nice brain cells to keep you going. The graphics are psychedelic, the background uses parallax scrolling and changes as you watch it.

The sound is pretty average with a bit of digitised speed and a very unpleasant scream when you finally eat a flashing-tumour - after you've zapped it with your psychic bolt. It's vital to absorb it as quickly as possible because while it's flashing it destroys nearly cell walls very rapidly.

There are six levels: Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and ESP, but unlike most games, you can jump between the levels using various teleports, so you don't need to finish one completely before moving to the next.

The main disadvantage with not completing a level is that any remaining tumours continute to generate mutant cells so when you get back the level will be re-populated with unpleasant nasties.

The baddies - mutant cells - are each animated with a few frames and each level has different ones based loosely on the sensory perception you're dealing with.

On the right, sight, there's Bruce Forsyth in a TV screen, a bat 'n ball from the Fireball II arcade game plus some other indeterminate thingies. The ear has to suffer guns going off, and the smell level has cigarettes, and cars to name but two. The controls are highly responsive as you guide your eye ball around your brain, although you can only fire if you're mvoing, and you can't shoot diagonally although that manoeuvre is permitted.

Absorbing the throbbing healthy cells is good for you while running into the mutants isn't, but there's no level indicator showing how well off you are.

In fact, while it's really fun to play and very addictive - though a touch wearing on the old eyeballs - it seems to be not quite complete.

Anyway, if you like zapping things and rushing around mazes this is definitely the game for you.

Lazarus