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The Duirs have invaded Earth and set up base in an obscure part of the planet. They want to alter the atmosphere and weather so that there is another ice age and they can rule the world. You, Lance Gryzor, have been volunteered to destroy the Atmosphere Processing Plant.

There are three stages to the game and each one is split into smaller sections. The three stages are: the enemy stronghold, the Atmosphere Processor and the mother ship. The first section is similar to Freddy Hardest and Game Over with horizontal flick screen graphics. In this section you must reach the alien stronghold and blast your way inside. The landscape is filled with enemy soldiers and gun emplacements that are out to kill you.

There are weapon containers to be found and these contain one of four types of weapon: rapid fire, scatter gun, laser gun and barrier. Rapid fire increases the rate at which bullets leave your gun, scatter gun fires three bullets at a time, the laser is a more destructive weapon and the barrier makes you invulnerazle for a time. Bonus lives are not awarded for points scored, but one is awarded after completing each stage of the game.

The alien stronghold is made up of corridors which are blocked off by forcefields. To de-activate these you must shoot a switch at the end of the tunnel many times. The alien defences and aliens are in the meantime trying to destroy you. After passing through a few of these barriers you reach the control room which is well defended.

After destroying the control room you go on to the next stage which is a vertical flick screen game of ledges and platforms. It plays very similarly to the horizontal flick screen stage. After this you must destroy the Atmosphere Processor and then it's time for the assault on the mothership. Inside the mother ship is another network of tunnels and barriers.

You can assume a variety of poses with your weapon to help to destroy the enemy. You can shoot diagonally up and down, to the left and right, straight up and lying down on the two flick screen stages. In the tunnels you can crouch down, rather than lie down, to shoot at different heights.

Sound effects are simply explosions and firing sounds, but they are good. A bonus for all 128K owners is that there is an option for a continuous tune rather than the sound effects. The game loads in one go for those of you with 128K and the rest have to settle for multi-load.

At first this appears to be just a shoot-em-up. but the different weapons and angles that you can shoot at means that a simple strategy element is involved. One thing that is annoying is that the enemy bullets are the same colour as yours and often you don't realise that there's a bullet coming at you until it's too late. This is a very good arcade conversion that has an addictive quality that will keep you coming back for more.

50,000 points.

The same team that produced Renegade are responsible for this one, so as you would expect it's got excellent graphics. The gameplay doesn't win any points for originality, but the different weapons and types of stage provide variety. It won't last you that long in its challenge, but it's a fun blast for a few days.

The enemy soldiers are almost invisible in green.

Graphics 83%
P. Colourful and well animated characters.
N. Enemies sometimes merge with the background (especially on green screen).

Sonics 64%
P. Continuous tune for 128K machines.
N. Not much sound for the rest.

Grab Factor 87%
P. Once you start playing you just won't want to stop.
N. A bit difficult to begin with.

Staying Power 76%
P. Lots of screens to keep you occupied.
N. Once you complete it you probably won't play it again.

Overall 82%
P. One of the best arcade conversions in recent months.