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The predecessor to Starstrike II was one of the earliest big games on the Amstrad, and it still looks good even today. That was a Vector' graphics shoot-'em-up with all the ships line-drawn and empty. Now every-thing has been filled in with colour, and has more varied stages and an overall task. If you've got the original then you already know what Realtime is capable of, and this latest offering sets new standards in graphics.

The game is a battle against the invaders of the original game, who have been driven back to their own planetary systems which you now have to conquer. There are five systems, each with between three and six planets which have to be neutralised by overcoming a number of defence zones and destroying their control centres. The planets come in three types, military, industrial and agricultural, and this determines the sort of opposition you're likely to encounter.

The ship is based at a support module from which you travel to each of the five systems. Supplies can be taken on at the module to replenish fuel and forcefield levels before taking on the planets. Once at a system you can choose to attack any of the planets, basing your decision on the cost in fuel and the strength of their defence. When you hyperspace to the planet you may encounter your first problem - a hyperspace storm. This consists of an awful lot of coloured blocks flying straight at you, which have to be avoided if you don't want to suffer a lot of shield damage.

Having reached the planet you could come across a space wheel. These always appear at military planets and sometimes at industrial ones. These can be ignored, but provide quite a challenge. After that comes a series of defence forcefields, each passed through a diamond-shaped gap. These are defended by various spinning objects and gun emplacements that fire six-pointed stars. Getting through them unscathed is very tough and takes good timing and positioning.

After getting through the defence fields you've got to deal with the planet's orbiting fighter cover. This involves ship-to-ship fighting, very similar to Starion and using similar scanners to locate the enemy. When the enemy comes into view the scanners disappear and leave you to marvel at the amazing solid, full colour spaceship twisting and turning in front of you. Shoot it a few times and it explodes, often leaving a fuel pod for you or an enemy scavenger ship to pick up.

Once you've destroyed enough ships you descend to the planet surface, and a trench which you fly through, shooting some of the ground targets and avoiding others. At the end of the trench you enter a ventilation duct full of blocks and obstacles, including rotating fans and opening and closing iris doors. Finally you'll come to the room containing the pod that has to be destroyed to neutralise the planet. Blast that and it's off to tackle another one.

Not every planet has all these stages, and some are harder than others. Whichever one you choose, you find your shields under heavy pressure and a need for plenty of skill and practice. The solid 3D graphics are absolutely stunning, combined with demanding, addictive gameplay and terrific variety in the stages and opponents. It's certainly the best action shoot-'em-up of the year so far, and those 3D solid, colour graphics are absolutely incredible.

This one takes shoot-'em-up graphics into a whole new league. The enemy ships are so beautiful it seems a shame to shoot them, and they're just a small part of the game. If docking with space-wheels doesn't amaze you, you should try the tunnel sequence at full speed - it's dazzling. The gameplay's tough and varied, but who cares.

If you fancy a change from Elite, this is the one for you. It doesn't quite have the same thrill as racing your souped-up Cobra MkIII against a couple of Vipers - it doesn't quite have the feel! - but it's pretty hot. And the graphics are astounding too.

200,000 points.

P. Astounding graphics.
P. Easy to get into the action.
P. Large variety of sections and enemies.
P. Some very tough stages.
P. Very addictive and fast gameplay.
P. As a pure shoot-'em-up it knocks everything else into deep space.
P. A long term aim besides a high score.

N. Only if you don't like shoot-'em-ups.

Looks great to me, and I do mean great.