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The tape loaded perfectly to reveal a Martian night sky, a blood-red landscape and a solitary domed city.

You move your laser beam's cross-hair sights around the sky and the landscape scrolls rather beautifully left and right across approximately three screen widths.

Movement is with the now standard Z, X, : and / keys or you can use a joystick - which I preferred - but you may find yourself being rather hard on it as you drag it back to engage your force field.

Alien ships fly back and forth dropping bombs on the city. You really need to shoot each ship with one or two shots to defer the onslaught.

If a ship passes your defences it comes back again, by which time another is already following and likely to be your downfall.

You never win, of course, and rarely get a second chance, so excitement and/or frustration can run high.

Constant use of the laser and force field depletes your energy.

It is fairly easy to lose a city, and although you get three lives I can imagine interest waning quite quickly.

The game is well presented but with little to distinguish it. A high score is shown but no list of names - a disappointing neglect.

I.W.