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This is the latest offering from the prolific Microdeal/Michtron stable. Goldrunner is the only one of the three which has two-way vertical scrolling, technically making it a shoot-'em-up-or-down! There is even a passing attempt at offering some justification for what's going on...

The Earth is dying. New worlds have been found. But between the old legacy and the new hope lie 'The Ringworlds of Triton' - gasp swoon etc! Built by an inconceivable technology, the Ringworlds will destroy anything that comes within range, but it seems this technology was so inconceivable that it never thought anyone would have the audacity to attack a Ringworld alone in a single small craft.

Against such an attack the Ringworlds have only the most rudimentary of defences... rudimentary to them but still pretty awesome to us. Of course you're the Earth's best pilot and last hope, etc.

Each ring has a specific amount of energy which is reduced every time a building or piece of machinery is destroyed.

Although many ground features can be flown over, the taller ones represent a health hazard and must be dodged. After a while you'll recognise which elements need a wide berth, but a good rule of thumb is avoid anything casting a suspiciously large shadow.

In between avoiding high buildings, the Ringworlds will give you plenty of other things to think about in the form of wave after wave of flying fighters. These come in all shapes and sizes but have one thing in common - the defence of the Ringworld - and you're in their way. Contact with the fighters themselves is harmless but don't get caught by their disrupter bombs.

At the start of the game, your craft has an armour strength of five and fully powered lasers and boosters. All these functions will suffer as a result of successful attacks from the enemy. You lose a life when your armour strength decreases to zero.

The graphical design of the Ringworld backdrops are impressive indeed. Each appears as if you're looking through a pair of tinted specs - first green, then purple, etc. The animation and shadow of yoour ship, as it spins round in mid-air, is a real visual treat. Add to this some very atmospheric digitised speech, nice decaying explosions and some of the fastest and smoothest scrolling you're ever likely to see, and that's the very classy Goldrunner.

Not the easiest game in the world to play, and certainly less frenetic than the other two, Goldrunner will appeal to Uridium freaks and those who are prepared to work a little harder before savouring the delights later levels.