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Irem's R-Type has been a major talking point of the arcade fraternity for the past year - and it's easy to see why. With its combination of superb playability and amazingly repellent alien graphics, it's one of the best arcade shoot-'em-ups around.

Electric Dreams snapped up the conversion rights at the beginning of the year in a deal that was similar to an F-plan diet (they shed pounds and pounds in a very short space of time), and since then have been working on home computer versions. Now the fruits of their labours are about to be released...

For those unfamiliar with the game (where on Earth have you been?), R-Type is a horizontally scrolling blaster in the traditional mould. There are eight different levels, and at the end of each is a giant guardian who is defeated to progress to the next level.

The scenario is basically an excuse for a suicide pilot to take on a mighty enemy force single-handedly, in this case the evil Bydo Empire, which is wreaking havoc across the universe. Flying a unique R-9 type assault craft and armed with lasers and whatever extra weapons that can be picked up during the mission, it's the player task to penetrate all eight levels of Bydo's home planet and confront and destroy him on the final screen.

The R-9's laser cannons are capable of rapid bursts of low-charge laser fire. Keeping the fire button depressed "beams up" the charge, indicated by a bar at the bottom of the screen, and when the fire button is released a powerful laser bolt shoots across the screen, destroying all in its wake. The only problem with this is while the charge beams up, the R-9 can't fire, and is therefore defenceless.

The first level pits the R-9 against the Bydo mechanical defence system. Attack waves of Bydo craft pose little problem, but soon groundwalkers appear which require repeated shots to kill. Battle on and the first of the highly useful POWs fly on. When these grey, rotund craft are destroyed they leave behind an icon which is picked up to add an extra feature to the R-9. The first and most important is the pod, a spherical object which can be attached to the front or back of the craft, or left floating free to blast oncoming craft. If it's attached to the craft it provides protection from enemy bullets, and also destroys anything it touches - although for tougher craft it takes a few seconds for the destruction process to take place. If the R-9's fusilage is touched by another craft, bullet or the scenery, however, it's destroyed.

Other extra weapons take the form of homing missiles (two launch automatically every few seconds and hunt down and destroy an enemy target), speed-ups, helix lasers, reflective lasers, vertically-firing power bolts and drones which float above and below the R-9 adding extra width to its firepower. A fully-equipped craft is an awesome fighting machine - but it takes time to build up that kind of arsenal, especially as all extra weapons are lost when the R-9 is hit!

Halfway through the first level is a spinning circular barrier of gun emplacements, blast this and there's a myraid of planes, walkers, missile-firing robots and laser towers to defeat before the guardian is encountered. This screen-high horror looks similar to the Alien in the eponymous films, and has a deadly indestructible tail, which swishes around in a very threatening manner. After a few seconds, a horrid green face bursts out of the alien's stomach and spits spinning disks at the ship; dodge these and shoot the face with a couple of full-beam shots to kill it.

The next level takes the R-9 through a diabolical alien garden populated by huge scorpions, plants that spit pulsating organisms and, at the end, a huge snake that slithers through the auricles and ventricles of a giant beating heart. At the top of the heart is a growth covered by a protective skin. Occasionally the skin peels back, exposing the growth so that it can be blasted - several accurate hits destroy the heart and the snake.

A massive mothership makes up the third level, and the player guides the R-9 around it shooting out the bristling gun emplacements and laser cannons. The giant ship's weak spot lies in its piston-like organ situated at the top. It slides in and out, and is vulnerable when fully extended - but it's well defended so some pretty nifty play is needed to get in the fatal shots.

Level four pits the R-9 against hordes of flying alien craft, some of which leave trails of dots which have to be cleared out of the way before the ship can continue safely. Just before the guardian appears, a whole screen of these dots has to be cleared - easy if you've got a pod; tricky if you haven't. The guardian is a big red ship that splits into three and moves slowly around the screen. Each section is destroyed by repeatedly shooting its blue docking port.

Level five is where the going starts to get very tough, with huge snakes crawling from dense vegetation. At the end is a rock-class ship which breaks up under repeated fire, deadly boulders flying at all angles.

Subsequent levels take the ship through two alien factories, tortuous mazes densely populated by Bydo combat craft, gun emplacements and massive mechanised hulks of machinery. The final level is an all-out attack from the amassed Bydo forces, and the evil one himself lies in wait on the ultimate screen - destroy him to complete the mission.

I did have my doubts about the Spectrum version of R-Type, but Electric Dreams has coped admirably, and the end result is fantastic! The graphics are obviously a pale imitation of the original, but nevertheless they still capture the spirit nicely, and what is lost visually is made up by the gameplay. To coin a well-used cliche, all the features of the arcade machine have been included, and the end result is an excellent shoot-'em-up that's both challenging and addictive. An absolute must for Spectrum blasting fanatics!

The ST Version looks almost identical to the arcade version, although the effect is undermined slightly by wobbly scrolling and jerky sprites. However, it's the gameplay that's important, and this is where it excels. The thrills and spills of the coin-op have been successfully reproduced, and consequently the game is fiendishly addictive - there are huge rips in the office carpet where I was dragged away to write this review.

It goes without saying that if you enjoy a good shoot-'em-up, you should shoot down the shop immediately and purchase a copy, or you can use our mega money-off voucher and buy it for £11 - surely the bargain of the year?