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Six years ago, an alien force set about terrorising the galaxy. As top gun of the Terran Spacefleet, our hero single-handedly repelled the invaders and, with the galaxy at peace, he the retired to the planet Soar.

It wasn't peaceful for very long, however: the aliens are at it again. They have captured the planet Tanium, so our intrepid pilot is sent to quell the uprising - again.

The game starts with the player's ship zooming across the skies of Tanium, whereupon vicious alien hoards appear hell-bent on eliminating him. Destruction of alien formations earns the player a bonus, which takes the shape of increased firepower and speed.

The mission is aggravated by barriers that stretch vertically across the screen: careful flying is needed to negotiate the small openings in them.

Five lives are provided, although contact with either enemy ships, their laser fire or the barriers is fatal. Once a ship is destroyed, any extra equipment collected is also lost, so more blasting is needed to replace it.

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: small, mainly monochrome ships against a boring black background
Sound: shooting effects only

'The attack of the planet Tanium is colourfully portrayed; unfortunately, the 'Quariad' class fighter seems to be a second-rate mechanical mistake. Even with extra speed and firepower, control of the craft is painstakingly slow. Your laserfire is almost invisible and the aliens' advance is quite leisurely. This makes for some pretty insipid blasting, and lack of manoeuvrability inevitably involves the loss of lives. When this happens there's no explosion of any kind - you have to keep your eye constantly on the energy meter and 'number of lives' display. On the whole, cosy retirement on the planet Sloar is definitely a preferable option.'

Tanium is yet another game in the same vein as Side Arms and Agent X II, but this is quite good for a change! The graphics are neat and stand out well from the background. Colour is used as well as can be expected and it gets more colourful as you progress. There are some excellent alien patterns and some very detailed ships to blast away. Tanium also has a few good sound effects but the programmers haven't exactly gone mad with their synths. One addition that would have made it even more of a challenge is if the aliens actually shot back instead of just colliding with you. Still, a great game if you feel like a good blasting session!'