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There are very few platform games yet available for the ST - which is strange when you think how many have been released for eight bit machines. In fact, apart from a terrible version of Donkey Kong called Monkey Business from The Other Valley Software, Space Station may be the first of its kind to be launched in the UK.

Although this game breaks no new ground in terms of game design or features, it is fun to play and there is just enough variation in each of the 100 plus locations to keep you coming back for more.

You are Callum MacGregor, Chief Inspector of the Federation's Space Stations. You have been sent to investigate strange goings-on on Alpha3. Getting no response and being perilously low on fuel you beam aboard only to find (yes - got it in one!) the station has been completely taken over by aliens.

Your only means of escape is by collecting enough Lithium crystals (conveniently scattered about the station) to refuel your ship - I told you to carry a spare gallon in the boot!

Before leaving you must also activate the station's self-destruct mechanism using a security disk, hidden in some inaccessible corner of Alpha 3.

Apart from a small status area at the bottom of the screen, the rest of the display shows a side view of your current location with exits indicated by shimmering blue arrows. Part of the game must be completed on foot, although you can jump short distances. The rest of the station can be more easily explored using any one of a number of jetpacks you may find.

Apart from the crystals there are ammunition boxes, each of which contains four bullets for your gun. You can shoot anything that moves which basically means aliens, most of which look like designer robots, although one particular species bears an uncanny resemblance to the common seagull!

The platforms are littered with detonators which blast you up to the level above, using up vital energy in the process. Detonators can be jumped over, but this requires accurate joystick control. You often find yourself making unplanned leaps to the platform above which can be a nuisance if there's no way to drop down again.

There are also spikes and automatic guns in many rooms, which sap your energy, as do the aliens when touched. In fact, as you get deeper into Space Station, it becomes increasingly obvious the guarding against excessive energy loss is the key to success.

This is one of five ST games available from Eidersoft all of which feature Midi-compatible soundtracks, although, one has to say, the music in Space Station is decidedly unremarkable!

The graphics are pleasing without being anything to write home about, but each screen is "busy" enough to maintain interest and you could find this game grabbing you when you're not looking and not letting go until you've mastered it.