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Odyssey is a five screen shoot-'em-up which tries to combine Space Invaders, Scramble, and a host of other features in one game.

There's more to this game than meets the eye - and certainly more than appears in the instructions. In the first screen, you must eradicate numerous Plague Pests, avoid Robo-Crabs, and destroy Egg Bombs.

The scenario is complicated to say the least, and I found myself failing dismally in my first missions without exactly knowing why.

Once you've sorted out your tactics and worked out the scoring system, Odyssey becomes rather more enjoyable. However, one or two of the five screens (the fourth in particular) are very difficult to negotiate. Don't go for this game unless you're prepared to spend a lot of time practising.

In the second screen, you must score five hits on an egg, which is jealously guarded by four of the afore-mentioned Robo-Crabs. Failure to complete your mission means that the egg hatches and you must now wrestle with - wait for it - a Giant Killer Robo-Crab. Difficult to hit, but not very exciting to look at.

The fourth screen is a Scramble spin-off, where you face a number of different craft, each of which has some particularly nasty way of costing you a life. Some just rush at you, while others bob up and down, and then suddenly drag you to oblivion without warning.

The graphics in Odyssey aren't wildly exciting, and the sound doesn't make much use of the Commodore's facilities.

The scope of the game makes it a slightly better buy than the average shoot-'em-up, but give it a miss if you like your games to have the simple touch.