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Having been on the losing side in a huge intergalactic punch-up, the good ship Raterscan has been left crippled. It is currently in serious danger of being sucked into the heart of a nearby star, and consequently becoming a large cloud of metal vapour.

'MSB' the one and only maintenance robot left aboard has also suffered damage, and can only remember how to fix toasters. It is your task, to guide MSB around the ship, helping him to perform four repair jobs, and ultimately regain control of the spaceship.

Initially, the generator is out of commission and the ship is running on battery power alone. To get the generator working again, you have to track down the break in its fuel line and replace the damaged section with one from the stock which exists somewhere on board.

Once the ship is under its own power, you can then attempt to activate the ship's four engines, by re-connecting power lines (as with the generator's fuel line) and initiating the correct switches.

Safety under way once more, the ship's guidance systems now require activation. The main scanner is turned on by the correct sequential activation of three switches, and a room near the bridge contains the main control system. Here, MSB is used to allocate power to each of the four engines, effectively enabling the ship to be steered to safety.

MSB's task is made more difficult by the fact that many of the rooms are accessed by large metal doors, secured with a system of colour-coded locks. The switch takes the form of an octagonal display with eight coloured segments. Altering the colour of one segment also affects others (like a two-dimensional Rubik's Cube), with the door opening when all the segments have been turned to the correct colour.

What annoyed me most about this was the control method - The MSB responds very sluggishly, making the exploration of the ship annoying and time-consuming.

It's a shame really, because the logic puzzles are superb - they really get the grey matter whirring into action. The graphics and sound are of commendable quality and there are plenty of puzzles and obstacles to overcome, but personally I found the gameplay too frustrating and tiresome to be worth the effort.

On first playing this, I thought it was incredibly frustrating and soon left it. However, on returning I found that it did have some strange appeal and eventually became quite engrossed.

The control of MSB is very fiddly, and the logic puzzles are *really* hard - it took me absolutely ages to suss out the locks. That's no guarantee that you will have difficulty (I'm no genius), but you'll certainly have to slave over them for the first couple of goes.

Rasterscan has some pretty graphics and the gameplay is fairly novel, but the task ahead is a bit awesome - be prepared for a challenge.

Presentation 75%
A useful game save option and a generally smart look.

Graphics 63%
Large bland areas decorated with small, detailed and well-drawn objects.

Sound 76%
An unusual but pleasant tune provides atmosphere.

Hookability 49%
The awkward control method and complexity of the logic puzzles are a detracting factor to the first-time player.

Lastability 62%
A daunting task lies ahead for those who enjoy this type of action.

Overall 67%
An imaginative and perplexing (but sometimes frustrating) arcade adventure.