For several years now, Atari International (UK) has been as active as a rabbit with rigor mortis. However, in a small quarter page advert subtly hidden at the back of most computer magazines recently, Atari offered to look at and possibly publish, any Atari machine code program. I declined the offer myself - too much like hard work - but now a game has been picked.

The Lone Raider is astonishingly good compared to most UK-produced games and at £14.99 it is untouchable.

It is supplied in a new form of packaging for Atari, reminiscent of a video cassette box.

Whilst loading, that elusive second cassette track is used to play music rather than those intolerable beeps. As with most newly released games, the title page is very flash with some nice animation, although I felt most deprived by the lack of deep bassy title music bursting forth by kind permission of POKEY.

The game is in three stages. You beam down to the surface of a hostile planet then after blasting your way through a few dalek-like enemies - ducking the odd stray shot and sneaking past The Giant Terminator - I suspect this name was stolen from one of the Worst of Hollywood movies! - you sneak into the factory entrance.

Once in the factory, you are duty-bound to burn around the place collecting the stores of neutrons whilst avoiding the nefarious robot guards.

Like Pac-man, you can kill the robots after eating one of the pulsating blue objects - which I am told are protons. But unlike Pac-man, these power pills move! You weave through doors, duck under protons you'd prefer not to use and most regularly get squeezed to death between the robots.

After much diligent practising however, I passed this screen and after passing a bonus screen got into the transmitter room. Here you theoretically dodge some evil-looking bounders to reach the transmitter.

Overall, it is a very smooth game and strangely addictive. For the budget buyer and collector alike, I strongly recommend Lone Raider. It runs in 16K on both the new and old ranges of Atari machines.