This is the machine code version of the Extended Basic game, and oddly enough easier to play. You are still at the Ukranian diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, and you must cross eleven floors nine times, avoiding patrolling guards while building up a coded message - the solution of which could win you some software - and you still use either keyboard or joystick.

This time, however, the guards bounce off the top and bottom floors instead of wrapping round, which makes life more difficult, but your movement control is far tighter, and when you use the option to pause, everything stops, unlike the Extended Basic version. It is this, more than anything, which makes the game easier and because there is less frustration, the enjoyment is greater.

Although there are really two games here - the on-screen battle with the guards and the code-breaking - the code could easily be obtained in both versions. However, the game would hold your attention and interest in its own right.

The graphic display is very similar to the Extended Basic version, and shows better than average control of sprites.

P.B.