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Glider Rider is an astonishing new game from Quicksilva. Astonishing in look, gameplay, plot and if you have a 128K, sound.

The games uses the Knight Lore style of 3D playing area but plays on two levels, literally, since you travel both on bike around the landscape and by hang glider swooping over exactly the same features from above.

This no doubt tricky programming feat has been achieved seemingly effortlessly and Glider Rider features a vast futuristic landscape over and through which, you may move.

The game has an interesting plot, or at least some interesting ideas. Your objective is to destroy the headquarters of the Abraxas Corporation - a nasty lot of arms dealers (based on the politics of the real world this game is not.) This involves blowing the plant to bits The plant is located on BoOs island - a giant artificial construction floating somewhere in the Pacific.

The way to obliterate the plant is to attack and destroy ten nuclear reactors - the power network for the whole place. This involves essentially two operation, seeking them out on a bike and, then having found an available hill, using a hang glider to fly over and drop bombs.

Where does the hang glider come from? Simple. If you find a big enough hill and speed down it on the bike and suddenly reverse direction the bike turns into a hang glider. Nifty eh?

Of course, it isn't as simple as that. Each of the reactors is very well defended by some devastatingly effective laser bases which will sap your energy (if it reaches zero then its goodbye). Then there is the problem of getting more bombs You start with nine and there are ten bases - clearly some more must be found.

Gradually a technique for playing the game develops, you discover which hills provide safe take-off sites (well, relatively safe take-off sites) and which reactors are the most vulnerable. I found I was within minutes of giving up on the game when I successfully bombed my first reactor using a mixture of luck and judgement.

The graphics are highly detailed and rather imaginative - a mix of green fields with rolling hills and the high tech areas of the central compound. The reactors are scattered around, some partly concealed by trees, sometimes more exposed - nearly always defended you can recognise them easily - they look like huge white bowling balls. If you blast one successfully a little screen opens up and says, emphatically BANG! No attribute problems - the game is mostly two-colour but that won't bother you too much once you get playing.

Sound on the 48K version is fairly minimal but adequate. The 128 is another story altogether. The graphics, originality and range of fresh ideas in Glider Rider make it a sure winner.

Label: Quicksilva Author: Glen White Price: £8.95 Joystick: various Memory: 48K/128K (128K enhanced) Reviewer: Graham Taylor

*****

Very neat and original game featuring two levels of action. Astounding sound on the 128 tips it into classic status.