Tired of solving adventure games? Fed up with educational programs and glutted with amazingly boring utilities? Well why not go back to where it all began and zap aggressive aliens from a far off galaxy? And when you do, make sure that you have a go at Optima Software's latest Electron game, Omega Probe.

The scenario is fairly familiar. You are in command of a drone ship investigating the Omega sector, the last great space frontier. The local aliens look on you as a hostile force and launch a mass unprovoked attack. You have to defend yourself as best you can.

What is unfamiliar is the speed. It's the fastest game yet for the Electron that I've come across so far. The aliens come at you thick and fast, sliding across the screen. Waster, Ouchers, Pursuit and Interceptor Drones hurtle at you as you do your best to fight them off. The graphics have to be seen to be believed.

The controls are well designed and easy to use. You even get the choice of using joysticks, both the Signpoint Joyport and the First Byte joystick interface work with the game. This adds a whole new dimension to the game (if that's possible).

It is engrossing and compulsive, the kind of game that you see someone playing and immediately want a go yourself. And if it's you that's playing you don't want to let anyone else have a go. Recommended.

Alan Coombes