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As the commander of a deep space fuel dump, you are a vital part of Earth's exploration project. You are also an excellent target for any passing alien who wants a cheap tank of four star. Your constant struggle with these thieving aliens forms the theme of Laser Reflex.

The fuel dumps' defences take the form of a mobile laser base situated beneath a plasti-steel roof. Through this roof you can observe the descending aliens. But if you tried to shoot at them directly you would make a nasty mess of the roof. The fuel dump designers solved this problem by leaving one end of the dump open. They then built a large curved mirror at this point. By moving your laser base left and right you can alter the angle at which your beam strikes the mirror. By altering this angle of incidence you also alter the angle of reflection - sounds just like school, doesn't it?

So as you move your base closer to the mirror the beam fires higher into the atmosphere and vice versa.

The aliens fall from the sky in no set formation and are therefore quite difficult to hit. To encourage you to move the laser base around, the instructions tell you that bonus points are awarded for hitting the aliens while they are at the top of the screen. It is tempting to sit at the far left of the screen firing laser bolts at a very shallow angle and stand a chance of hitting more aliens.

Basically, this is an attempt to squeeze a little more life out of the Invaders/Galaxian theme. It is a nice idea but it will never be a classic.

Jon Revis