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Space Ace 2101 borders on being an arcade-adventure. The basic idea of the game is to fly around the Mhiyken system in your spacecraft, shooting down every alien you can find.

However, there is more - as in adventure games, you are given money and opportunities to spend it on necessities. At space ports, it is even possible to pick up passengers. If you take them to their destination, you will receive a reward. In fact. a lot of things in this game rely on money. Fuel, for example, is always first priority on your shopping list. Not only that, but every alien that you destroy earns you a little more credit.

The really meaty bits of the game occur with the arrival of Zadron bombs and tractor beams, but you need quite a lot of cash for those! By far the most interesting part of the play is finding the alien production line, guarded by an impregnable shield and 'code locked star-gates'. Destroy these with an X-ray Zadron bomb. and you'll never want for money again. Or at least I hope you won't - I haven't got that far yet, but it is tantalisingly near!

The planetary and inter-planetary graphics are nothing special, but the animation is not too jerky and serves its purpose.

Sound effects are pretty awful, and encouraged my cat to sing along! Fortunately, there is a redeeming feature: games can be loaded or saved onto tape, just like a normal adventure.

To play the game. not only is a joystick necessary, hut you will have to reach towards the keyboard and press certain keys whenever options are displayed.

In conclusion, Space Ace 2101 is not the greatest game you will ever play... but the idea is good. Could be ideal for a Defender-less afternoon.

The instructions to Space Ace 2101 are not very clear. Fortunately, a helpful Quick Guide is included, but I still found the game a little confusing at first. It is like playing three games at once: Scramble, an outer space shoot out, and space trader. Once I began to get the hang of which keys to use, it became easier.

I like the flying through outer space part of the game best. The graphics are far from spectacular, but adequate.

In my opinion this game is much too frustrating and complicated to be popular. You must be prepared to persevere if you are to enjoy it.

I quite liked this game; it has arcade parts such as the Defender type scene on the surface of each planet but it also has the complexity of a space adventure such as Star Trek.

Even on the easiest of the eight levels of play, I couldn't land at another planet. I reckon, all in all, it is a tactical but hard game with lots of different sequences to keep your interest.