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Before moving on to the Electron, I owned a Spectrum and one of my favourite games on that machine was Penetrator which was the best home-computer version of Scramble I had come across. As well as being true to the original, it was also incredibly fast. I am delighted to say that after playing Moon Raider almost non-stop since receiving it for this review, I am as firmly hooked onto this version as I ever was on the Penetrator game.

The scene should be well known by now, with a small spacecraft flying over undulating terrain and through caverns and passageways, trying to battle past rockets while bombing radar scanners and fuel dumps. This bombing of fuel dumps is actually a rather unorthodox way of refuelling in flight (!), the other method being to dock between stages. All your favourite stages are there, including the silos and the bouncing OFOs in the cave, with five distinct phases. It is possible to select any stage on which to start at the options page, although unlike Penetrator it is not possible to get a limitless number of craft for practice. One outstanding feature is the chance to redefine the keys to be used during the game; this choice only being possible once, at the very start of the action. Actually, I did usually take advantage of a minor alteration here, and so I am sure will many other players.

With Micro Power such an established software firm for Acorn micros, it hardly needs adding that the graphics are smooth and slick, with the scrolling screen faultless. Whether you are a Scramble fan, or you are looking for a superb game or even if you just want an idea of what the Electron can produce in terms of speed, graphics and sound, then Moon Raider is the program for you!

Shingo Sugiura