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Far in the future, Earth fell into chaos after the death of its ruler Jaled IV. Anarchy was the only ruling force, and during these dark ages much scientific knowledge of the golden age was lost.

Only a few things have survived this terrible time of desolation, among them the intergalactic jail in which invaders were imprisoned and their psychological powers subdued.

The most dangerous of these invaders were a mean set of aliens who had landed from an unknown planet. Their powers were beyond belief: mental abilities that defied analysis and more physical strength than our world had seen before. In Jaled's time the creatures were held in a suspended state in the jail - but now, with advanced technology, they can be terminated for ever.

But the jail is so nearly impregnable that only The Hybrid can penetrate it. The Hybrid is a strange group of three half-droid, halforganic intelligence units, each possessing their own individual characteristics. And what makes these fighting machines invincible is their ability to merge and create a single entity, The Hybrid, with all the powers of the three units in one destructive force.

You control each of these intelligence units. The brain has with weak armour, moderate movement and poor shooting characteristics but can use the teleport to transfer itself and other units through the prison complex, closer to the aliens. The robot is the largest and strongest part of The Hybrid and best used to clear the way for the other units. And the xylon can switch on bridges in the jail, helping you cross streams.

Each unit has its own power rating, fuelled by energy blocks, and once a unit s out of power it's immobilised. In an emergency, energy can be siphoned from one unit to another.

Extra fire power and armour are also necessary to combat the strategically-placed guns, cannons, beacons, mines and obnoxious aliens.

To complete your task you must join the three units to form The Hybrid, which is then automatically transported to the cell of the first alien. By completing this process four times you eradicate the race of aliens and yet again save the earth.

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston. Sinclair
Graphics: neat, with well-used colour
Sound: average
Options: definable keys

'Hybrid is another trashy scrolling spaceship-on-pretty-backgrounds game. But the graphics are very similar to Shadow Skimmers, and colour is good and widely used. And there's an average title tune, though not many FX. The best idea is the way you can change from one Hybrid to another; but that doesn't save the uninteresting gameplay.'

'It's all well and good making a game that's graphically pretty and nicely documented, but if it's unoriginal and unplayable no-one will want to know. Hybrid left me cold. The screens offer virtually no challenge and the aliens that inhabit them aren't particularly bloodthirsty, so death is just an annoying thing that happens if you're unlucky. And once a Hybrid dies, the other two have to be sacrificed as they can't progress far on their own. Insipid...'

'DIY robot-building is the name of this very playable shoot-'em-up game. Graphically it's good, with the parts of the dismembered Hybrid zipping round the screen. And though it's all viewed from above, control is easy to master. The inevitable blasting sound effects are all too evident, but a harmless tune plays on the intro screen. Hybrid is well worth anyone's time.'