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Planetoid was one of the original BBC Micro games from Acornsoft and proved to be extremely popular. I must admit that I viewed the Electron version with some suspicion thinking that it may be slower in action or response. I was pleased to find that it is neither. The game performs to expectations and in addition has some facilities the BBC version lacked.

The objective is to patrol the surface of a planetoid and protect its lifeforms from the raiders. The raiders attempt to capture the life forms and carry them into space.

By use of lasers and smart bombs the raiders must be prevented from reaching outer space (the top of the screen). Failure causes the raider to mutate. Be warned. A mutated raider makes a normal raider look passive and harmless.

As if that wasn't enough, in addition to the raiders and mutants come the bombers, cruisers and megacytes. The latter are particularly nasty because they burst into a cloud of spores, each spore being extremely dangerous.

At the start you have three laser ships and three smart bombs, which kill all alien forms on screen at the moment of detonation.

The screen display is excellent. In addition to the surface of the planetoid, it also includes a long range view of the activities of the raiders, score updates and symbols representing the number of laser ships and smart bombs left.

Unlike my BBC version, this one has the ability to pause and restart - or to press and return to the start. The sound can be switched on or off at any stage.

It's fast and fun, annoying and addictive. In fact, it's one of the classic micro arcade games no Electron owner should be without.

John Woollard