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The planet Christon 3, an important space weapons research centre, has been attacked by unidentified alien beings. The scientists working there have gone into hiding, and the projects under development remain hidden in underground tunnels...

The player responds to a Rapid Intercept Seek and Kill order, and is dropped onto the planet in an armoured Surface Skimmer at the remaining safe area - Homebase. Here, the computer is accessed to change the colour of the ship, border and map, the workshop entered to add extra weaponry to the Skimmer, and the map examined.

The map is displayed as a grid, with allied territory shown as filled blocks, and alien-occupied areas as black squares. The player may only enter a black sector adjacent to one already cleared of aliens.

The action begins when the player enters an alien controlled sector. The Skimmer is flown around the horizontally scrolling area and blasts any alien craft, which vary from solo jetpackers to armoured ground vehicles. All are hostile and fire when the Skimmer draws near, reducing its shield.

Occasionally, scientists are discovered, and are picked up by landing nearby and letting them run to the Skimmer. Sometimes extra supply pods are dropped from a passing mothership, and are picked up when touched.

When a sector is cleared of all living things, the Skimmer is flown into the landing pad and enters an underground tunnel in which a series of platforms are found containing extra ammunition, parts and blueprints. The player may only land on one platform, and has one left to right pass to do so. If all platforms are missed, the Skimmer returns to Home-base.

Back at Homebase, the extra equipment gathered from the tunnel is used to either repair damage, recharge the blaster, or customise the ship. This process involves the expenditure of parts, blueprints and scientists collected previously. Extra features include thrusters to speed up the ship, retros to make it turn round faster, blasters to increase firepower, protective shields, and anti-grav.

With the changes selected, the player moves on to the next, more hazardous sector. The mission ends when too much damage is sustained.

From the very start, Risk looks impressive. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, with stunning use of colour and superlative sprites. This beauty isn't just skin deep either - Risk also plays extremely well.

The gameplay has Choplifter overtones, but there are plenty of new twists making the action addictive and worthwhile. The extra weapons section is very appealing, and I particularly like the diversity of the add-ons. Most are added to enhance your own style of play, and not because they're vital to progress to higher levels.

This customisation through choice gives a greater feeling of freedom, and makes the game even more absorbing. Although the action is ultimately repetitive, there's enough excitement generated on the higher levels to sustain interest and keep the player coming back for more. Rick is definitely one of the best shoot-'em-ups to appear in a long time, and should provide plenty of Christmas cheer for blasting fans.

After a long hiatus in releases from The Edge, they're at last back in the big time with Risk, a superbly polished shoot-'em-up. Initially impressive, the graphics get better and better as you progress, eventually climaxing with the incredible parallax tunnel sequence.

At first the ship flies like a brick, invoking a feeling of uneasiness, but the swift purchase of an anti-grav module puts things right, and the action becomes far more playable and rewarding.

Risk is very enjoyable, and the progressive nature of the action provides enough depth and spice to make most people sit up and take note. There's definitely no risk involved in buying this.

This has to be quite a novelty: a shoot-'em-up with some real thought put into it! Risk is extremely well designed, and a joy to play. The graphics are very crisp, fast-moving and colourful, and the sound, although sparse, is contributory, rather than detrimental to the action.

The progressive weapons are unusual in that the ship effectively starts below standard, and is built up to what would normally be the starting point for many games.

The fact that the ship is affected by gravity makes control tricky at first, and tests the player's skill right from the start. The only drawback I can see is that a player's interest may wane if he cannot equip his ship well enough to progress - repeatedly playing the beginning areas could become really boring!

Despite this minor worry, I think you can buy the game assured of a superb blast for many weeks to come.

Presentation 93%
Immaculate presentation throughout, with easy to use menus and excitement add-on system.

Graphics 94%
Ultra-smooth scrolling, and dozens of beautifully animated aliens.

Sound 86%
A very high quality title tune, and some useful, but limited, sound effects.

Hookability 89%
Although the blast-'em-up section is straightforward, the picking-up extras aspect can be a little confusing.

Lastability 82%
Plenty of sectors to clear, and lots of extra weaponry to experiment with.

Overall 90%
A superbly presented shoot-'em-up, with enough intellectual challenge to keep the entertainment going.