Happy landings

Just as you thought it was safe to go back to the keyboard. Willow Software start "The Search for Spark" in the form of Landing Party.

It's a Star Trek program, but, changing with the times, we have to find Spark, the First Officer. Poor old Spark has been caught by the Zingons and they're either hiding him on a planet or on one of their spaceships.

The USS Endeavour has been assigned to find him. The universe is divided into 10 sectors. Each sector is a grid of 10 by 10 locations. Your forward scan shows your cur rent sector and its neighbours.

Dotted about the universe are various planets, Zingons (Boo!), Space stations and Space HQ (Hooray!) plus the occasional asteroid and black hole.

Each planet, when visited, must be scanned by the Science Computer, an orbit achieved using Impulse engines and a landing party beamed down.

They report the nature of the planet, though often get them selves killed in the process. The Zingons are destroyed using either your needle lasers or Fulton torpedoes.

Lasers take quite a time to do their job and you might find yourself badly damaged before the Zingon is dead.

A more certain outcome is provided by using the Fulton torpedoes.

When fired, the torpedos tracks left to right, lower and lower across the forward scan ner. When the torpedo reaches the Zingon, it should be detonated.

In docking, left and right control is available to align the spaceship, while the speed of approach is fixed.

You must continue trekking until you recover Spark. The graphic sequences won't set the world on fire, but the game isn't claiming to be graphical.

The screen layout is, however, quite good.

All responses from the computer are printed out in a teleprinter style which is imaginative but slow.

Sound effects are limited but effective.

Frankly, this is a game for those who dislike Space Invaders and its ilk.

Reflexes don't count for much, since only docking and firing are in real-time.

However, this is a well-explained, novel variation on the Star Trek theme.

David Slater