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There's no doubt about it, this is the best version of Defender yet released on the Spectrum. It takes over the mantle from Crystal's Invasion Of The Body Snatchas for two reasons: it offers sound to those who don't have a Fuller soundbox (as well as those who do), and it's more playable.

Invasion was unbelievably hard to play - far harder than the arcade game itself. Star Blitz is a lot less frustrating.

For those who were born yesterday, the idea behind Defender is that you're protecting a group of humanoids from being kidnapped by spaceships known as landers. You fly your craft across a scrolling horizontal landscape blasting the enemy and keeping a special watch for any humanoids being lifted away.

When this happens, they cry out, and if you're clever - and fast - you can shoot the ship carrying them, pick them up before they hit the ground, and then land them back on the surface.

If you fail, the humanoids turn into mutants which are a much more vicious type of alien. As the game wears on, you come across many other hostile craft: swarmers, halters, bombers and pods. All these appear in Star Blitz.

One of the best features of this version is the control system. This closely follows the arcade pattern: up, down and reverse with your left hand; thrust, fire and smart-bomb with your right. The keys are evenly placed. Even so, newcomers will need much practice.

One disappointment is that the scrolling isn't completely smooth. I also found the tiny radar panel at the top of the screen very hard to make use of. Never mind, for Defender fanatics this is a must.