Galactic Jailbreak is a worthy attempt at dragging new life from the Space Invaders concept. As in Invaders, you must shoot down the aliens whilst avoiding their fire, but the similarities end there.

The aliens fly along the screen towards a centrally-placed jail where three of their compatriots are captured. They then remove the blocks that make up the prison, and when a route has been cleared a captive can be liberated, in which case you lose a life.

Although the game is not particularly fast, except when only a few aliens remain, it is surprisingly difficult. The keys are well chosen and the response quick, or you can use the A.G.F. or Fuller joysticks. The graphics are smooth, but uninspiring.

Galactic Jailbreak is accompanied by "Snake" in which yes you've guessed it you are in control of a gradually extending snake and must avoid turning back on yourself or bumping into the surround.

Points are gained by running into diamond-shaped blobs that appear and degenerate rapidly, and you must avoid the other obstacles.

Although Snake becomes challenging on the harder levels I didn't enjoy it much. Galactic Jailbreak is more interesting but below the standard set by some other Spectrum games.

S.E.