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IO can justifiably claim to be the definitive scrolling shoot-'em-up. In the all time hall of scrolling shoot-'em-up fame you have to class it in the Sanxion, Delta and Zynapse class.

Maybe in playability terms it is just about on the same level as Zynapse, but graphically IO is way ahead of all three of these.

Firebird has sensibly dispensed with plot and scenario - IO is about blasting the wondrous aliens that come at you.

As with most games of this type you have to build the firepower of your ship to have any hope of surviving.

You do this by shooting certain glowing orbs that are dotted around the game at intervals. When they absorb a set amount of missile fire they turn into duplicate ships that you fly into. This will add first one, then two, and finally three extra bullets - increasing your rate of shot rather than adding extra weapons to the ship.

When you have built the ship up to maximum firepower you can still get two more orbs to add protective orbs. These effectively add extra lives. If you die then you lose one of your orbs - not the ship itself. Collecting these orbs is therefore as important as clearing the path of aliens. The orbs also add two extra guns - which you will need when you confront the final alien at the end of each level.

There are four levels in IO - which doesn't sound like an awful lot but, believe me, once you have struggled with the joystick for hours before getting anywhere like near the end of the first level, you will know that there is enough here to keep you blasting for a very long white. If anything, the game might have benefitted from being slightly less difficult.

Level One is set in a futuristic cityscape - with monorails at the top and bottom of the screen. Along these rails move blue metalic aliens which spit flak at you. There is a huge worm that twists and spins its segmented body all over the screen - making for a formidable opponent. Two sputnik aliens shoot past you, spraying a trail of spheres at you as the C64 emits a splendid whooshing sound.

The second level is set against a weird, alien-like forest, with tulip-like plants spitting flak at you. A huge skill is the horrible monster that confronts you at the end of this level. If you are skilled enough to waste him, you will see the red rocky background of level three. More weird and wonderful aliens here - including a giant laser that has to be blasted section by section before it will let you pass to the final level.

The fourth and final level is a slimy mesh of blue fibrous-like material. This is the most R-Type-like level of the game and owes an obvious debt to the mega-successful Irem coin-op.

IO is the work of two well known Compunet art page supremos - Bob Stevenson and Douglas Hare.

If you like shoot-'em-ups, you will not want to be without IO - it is one of the best.