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My arcade weary brain wasn't really looking forward to reviewing yet another 'official' version of yet another arcade 'classic', but I have to admit that Tapper won me over. This is the first arcade game that I've played for quite a while that had me up until after midnight trying to beat my own high score.

You take the part of a barman who has to ensure that all the customers in his bar are served with drinks, and, at the same time collect all the empties that they send back.

The screen layout consists of four long bars along which the customers progress in their search for booze. If they reach the end of the bar, then your bartender is flung bodily along the bar (just like a Clint Eastwood western) and loses a life. Pressing the 'fire' button sends a drink to the nearest customer and sends him or her back to the far end of the bar, but if you send too many drinks they'll go shooting off the bar and smash, losing you another life. The same happens if you fail to collect any of the empty glasses flung back at you.

Like a lot of the best games, it's really quite simple to play, but hard to master. At first, you only have a few drinkers to cope with, but, as you progress, the number of glasses flying back and forth and the number of people advancing towards you (from opposite directions on some screens) become really confusing, and you end up in a complete panic prior to screaming in frustration and collapsing over a steaming keyboard. Even so, Tapper is one of those increasingly rare games that will have you going back for one more try, over and over again.

The graphics are about as good as you could expect, given the limitations of the Spectrum's screen display, and the figure of your bartender looks suitably panic-stricken as he rushes to and fro. The only minor criticism I have of the graphics is that sometimes, when two customer sprites overlap closely, they can almost completely cancel each other out and become virtually invisible, given away only by the occasional flicker.

This can be a bit confusing, though it doesn't happen very often, and certainly doesn't spoil what is an enjoyable and addictive game.