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The Nebulax Trilogy is not, in fact, the latest Science Fiction epic but rather a group of three planets rich in vital minerals. You're commander of the group and, well, things have not been going well. Truth to tell, it's been a bit of a disaster. All three planets have been occupied by enemy ships which have planted lethal radiation pods. When the pods explode, bang go the planets. So strapping on your jetpack and grabbing a laser gun you set off to save the Federation - and your career!

Once you begin jetting about you may recognise your surroundings as vaguely suggestive of numerous sideways-scrolling shoot-'em-ups. There's plenty of bobbing obstacles and kamikaze fighters to be shot or dodged, plus the three bullet-spitting radiation pods. Get all three pods and you're teleported to the next planet to repeat the process. At the top of the screen the three planets are represented with radiation meters showing how near they are to blowing up. On higher skill levels you'll need to teleport between them - by pressing 'space' - to reduce radiation by blowing up some of the pods.

A novel touch is provided by your energy levels, here represented by a temperature gauge. If this reaches either the maximum or minimums of the scale then you lose one of five lives. On the icy Glaciax, cold is most likely to kill you: taking hits and flying low drain energy, so climb to keep warm.

Presentation is helped by being able to choose from five skill levels, from Duffer to Master, as well as choosing low, normal, or high gravity and inertia. On the negative side, this means you can complete the game fairly easily, but higher skill levels seem to have more aliens. Another plus point are the fast and attractive graphics, as well as the useful sound effects.

To sum up, Neutralizor is yet another horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up which lacks graphical variety with just three planets. But both presentation and programming are good, while gameplay is very enjoyable to begin with at least.