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A long time ago, in an arcade far, far away, Atari's Star Wars appeared. Several years and a few million credits later, Domark have produced the home computer conversion.

The player takes the role of Luke Skywalker, flying his X-wing in a valiant attempt to destroy the Empire's Death Star. To achieve his mission he's confronted by three distinct stages, displayed in first-person perspective 3D.

The first features a deep space dogfight, in which wave upon wave of missile spitting TIE-fighters are avoided or blasted with the X-wing's lasers. Every time a missile hits the X-wing, it loses one of its nine units of energy.

Following this, Luke heads towards the surface of the Death Star, where a field of similiarly vicious ground-based laser turrets and towers are negotiated before reaching the final obstacle: the trench. In this, Luke guns his ship down a deep gorge in the Death Star, dodging barriers and flack from the wall-mounted laser turrets, to reach the exhaust port at the far end.

Successfully blasting photon torpedoes into the port results in the destruction of the Death Star. Points are awarded and one unit of shielding added to the X-Wing before Luke progresses t the next, more difficult level.

Disappointment is the overwhelming feeling when considering Star Wars. I'm always slightly dubious when vector graphics are used on the humble C64, and although Domark have made a brave attempt, their conversion falls short of the mark.

The graphics are rapid, but the cost of the large frame update is heavy, suffering worst in the dogfight sequence, where the TIE-fighters go through their aerial ballet as if in a strobe light. the action is still there, especially in the trench sequence, which is by far the best part, but the arcade 'feel' has gone. Slow graphics and a truly crummy control method conspire to make Star Wars a very average game.

For the many millions of Star Wars fans, waiting with baited breath for a stunning conversion, I have a feeling you're going to be disappointed.

This is probably the best you can get on a C64 - but that still isn't very good. The main problem is that, in keeping the speed of the arcade version, the animation has suffered horribly: when tie-fighters move, they do it in big jumps.

In addition to this, the 'feel' is decidedly strange, as the programmers have used pilot controls. Having criticised the game so far, let me add that it has all the features of the original (except the speech) and is fairly playable.

I've been a fan of this Atari classic ever since I first saw it back in 1983. It's finally arrived on the C64 and isn't at all bad. I'm pleased to see that Domark have included all the original's features - in fact, the game is perfect but for two things: the slow frame update, which causes things to jump about at an alarming rate, and the strange control method.

The original arcade game has pilot controls, but feels like you're actually flying an X-wing - on the C64 it's ill-suited because there's no sensation of flight.

Star Wars, like the arcade original, provides an enjoyable blast - but it's a shame that the action isn't faster or smoother.

Presentation 83%
The meagre instructions are more than compensated for by the in-game briefing and options.

Graphics 68%
A valiant attempt at fast vector graphics, but as is so often the case, the quality suffers.

Sound 43%
A fairly poor rendition of the Star Wars theme plays over the credits, and there are some uninspired sound effects.

Hookability 69%
The simple shoot-'em-up aspect is appealing, but the control takes some getting used to, and the jerky display is confusing.

Lastability 55%
Many tough levels lie ahead of a player who enjoys the action.

Overall 70%
Star Wars has all the coin-op's features, but is let down by slow speed.