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This is a blindingly fast sci-fi dogfight program that thrills through its sheer speed rather than any gaming innovation. You command the Starfighter, a gleaming, high-speed rocket ship whose job is to protect the surface of your planet against alien modules 'n podules. A rather thankless task that offers few rewards. Speed is all that counts.

Even on the slow option, your Starfighter travels at an eye-aching rate of knots. So much so that it's difficult to control. At first I had a hell of a job just keeping the thing in the air, let alone worrying about all the adversaries on offer. The pips would sound and I'd go hareing off into the first available mountain. Still, I eventually managed to get to grips with the rather pendulous motion of the ship and could begin to concentrate on the game. What there is of it.

The only variation it offers on the scrolling dogfight scenario occurs when you exceed certain score points. The screen becomes dark, presumably representing nightfall and the swarmers hatch out. Unfortunately, night-time is fleeting and you're soon back where you started.

Like a lot of Dragon software, it's a compromise. The ingredients for a great game are there but none is fully exploited. This comes across as a sort of skeletal Defender; had it included a greater variety of aliens, some humanoids to rescue... a generally stronger theme - it may well have been a classic. All in all, something of a missed opportunity.