The Atari's graphics and sound capabilities mean games can come on with all the impact of a Hollywood movie. Lone Raider starts with an action music theme which becomes a mighty Wurlitzer, and then 'The Flight of the Bumblebee'.

And that's only while the game loads. The action revolves around a nuclear power station which has been taken over by aliens. There are four screens to battle through, and the first shows the power station. It's a big glowing pink thing that looks like an art-deco hatbox.

You descend from a spaceship, and find yourself defending the ground between the station and what looks like a telegraph pole.

Robot guards (looking just like Daleks) come at you from both sides, shooting at head-level. By pulling the joystick down, you can duck their shots so the robots shoot each other, but there are points to be gained by doing the shooting yourself.

When the robots are all out of the way, one last massive tank of a guard rolls up. Since he's indestructible, the only escape is to dash into the power station.

Inside the power station, the shooting stops, and you find yourself in a multi-floored space. Each floor has a line of dots to consume, and one blue proton drifting at head-level. Absorb it, and for four seconds, you can annihilate Mutant Guards on contact, rather than vice-versa.

There's a lot more of the same before you make it to the last screen. Then it's a matter of a quick dash through a simple maze to the faithful spaceship.

Getting through all this is heavy, even with five lives and at the lowest of 10 skill levels. Lone Raider is smooth running, has sharp graphics and professional sound effects.

One thing Americans have is technical know-how, and it shows. The game is addictive, and as an added bonus, there's a multi-lingual instruction manual. The French version is hilarious as well as having educational value!