Tailor-made to suit your skill

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When I loaded Escape from Orion my first thoughts were: "Oh no, not another of these". It looked ominously familiar: The usual layout of a screen split into several levels connected by ladders and so on.

I was against it from the start, and resigned to being bored out of my mind. Then I was pleasantly surprised. For one thing the graphics are quite nice and the instructions reasonably adequate.

For another, although the concept and theme of the game are fairly standard, the options built into it are excellent and help you tailor the game to suit your needs.

The idea is that your spacecraft is in trouble. You have to land on an alien planet and gather various items so that you can repair the ship and take off again.

There are the usual time limits, un pleasant aliens, ladders, gaps and moving platforms and you have your little man to guide through these hazards.

Nothing special there you might think, and I'd agree with you. But it's fun.

I found myself addicted to it in a short time, reaching for the space bar to start another game as soon as my final little man had met his doom. The game actually admits that some people can't yet afford colour monitors and allows you to choose between two versions, one for black and white, the other for the rich.

As well as this they give you the option of switching off the sound effects - a feature I wish more games allowed.

They also permit you to choose between four levels of skill and have up to four screens on each. You can pick which screen and level of difficulty on which you want to start.

I opted for level one, screen one. The 10-year-old next door starts on level four screen three. I have never liked that child.

I do like Escape From Orion and recommend it for those looking for a game of speed and skill. Not stunningly original, but it's fun. What more could you ask?

Trevor Roberts