In the original arcade version of Space Joust, the player mounts a winged steed and skewers his enemies with a lance. This version is understandably less ambitious and doesn't really have anything to do with jousting at all. It would best be described as driving dodgem cars in deep space.

The program loads in two parts, first the instructions and then the game. This means that you can't refer to the instructions during play, but then the game isn't exactly difficult to understand.

You move a ship about the screen ramming aliens. Providing you ram them from above they will explode, releasing an escape capsule which you can also ram for extra points.

Ignore the capsule and it will sink to the ground, change back into a ship, and take to the air again.

This may sound too easy to be true, but the outcome of each collision depends on your angle of approach. If you don't ram them from above, or if you bump into them from below, then you'll quickly join your ancestors.

You have four lives, and are faced with different coloured aliens who move faster as you progress through the different levels. There is a hi-score facility that is updated between games but is not displayed during play, and the action is satisfyingly speedy.

If you don't have a memory expansion for your Vic then this program is perhaps worth considering.