The BBC Micro was launched in 1982 as part of the BBC's computer literacy project. The computer that was designed to accompany it was made by Acorn computers and was a development of their already successful Atom machine. The original machine was designed for a straightforward home market, called the Proton, but the BBC has been aimed at a more serious educational/technical market.

This has prevented the vast number of games appearing that has graced the more suited to games machines such as the Atari and the Commodore, and the (initially) large user base ZX Spectrum.

A lot of games came out to begin with, but then the market that was buying the BBC sorted itself out. The ensuing financial performance of Acorn forced most software produced to abandon all development of products for the BBC machine.

However, there has been an enthusiastic group of software houses, headed by Acornsoft, that have persevered. This is their best.

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This is one of the classic all-time racing games. Designed by the author of Aviator with the help of James Hunt's brother the game bridges the gap between simulation and game reasonably well.

The game has some excellent 3D effects and the facility to 'tweak' the handling characteristics of the car by adjusting the wings on the car.

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Has been called the ultimate game by many. This game features piracy, bounty hunting, smuggling, and more usual straight trading. All interspersed with a healthy amount of dogfighting.

This game took the art of 3D real-time action to its limits and now, a year later, the game is still considered the state of the art in computer games with versions out (or coming out) for most of the popular machines.

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Yet another 3D game (never mind, only one more 3D game to go!). In this, you are the pilot of Westland Lynx helicopter flying over a contoured terrain complete with contour lines like on a map. There are various things to do in this game, the main object though is just to stay alive - this is not so easy as it sounds and the ground-to-air homing missiles are very difficult to shake.

There is a large strategy element to this game, as well as the usual machine-gun-up-anything-that-moves (and a lot that doesn't) aspect.

During the game you can land at your base and re-supply with various weaponry/fuel/troops etc for whatever game you are playing - i.e. if you like tank hunting then it is a good idea to equip for that type of mission. There's a lot to this popular game.

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When this game first came out, a few people were surprised at how much could be crammed into a Beeb considering the limitations of the machine. The game is basically a ladders and ramps game with a much more adventure-like feel to it with adventure-like problems to solve. As an added incentive, Micro Power will give you a pound if you manage to beat the game within three months.

I think that this game gets the prize (booby) for having the most people ring up the office asking "How do I do this...?" which is really silly because we haven't got a clue either!

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If you saw Time Pilot a couple of years ago then Space Pilot will hold no surprises.

To recap, you are in a time-travelling fighter plane that goes through a number of different screens, each representing a particular time zone in the history (and future) of flight. You start in WW1 go through the other two world wars via Vietnam and Korea, and end up in the future fighting flying saucers. A very fast-paced game. Not for those of a nervous disposition!

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For some this is the classic BBC adventure. Though released some years ago, it has still taken some people up to now to finish it!

Philosophy is the theme behind the game, so you have to think like a philosopher to complete the game. For example, in one point in the game you cease to exist, the remedy to this is to 'think' you think therefore you are, and so you re-exist.

Also, on doing some odd things, you will permanently turn into a lettuce leaf! Quite a challenge.

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I say disk Hobbit because the tape version isn't really that good. However, the disk-based implementation of the game is rather special.

The game takes up two 40 track disks plus the original program disk. On 80 track drives, you have to make do with just two disks (200K each!)

The disk version has improved text handling, better descriptions and problems, and graphical pictures of every location that you visit.

One of the all-time classic adventure games.

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Yet another 3D perspective game from the people that churn these games out by the boatload.

I personally don't like the game, but it has enough 'classic' features and popularity to be featured here. This is very similar to Knight Lore (in fact, almost identical) and has a little character running around a multi-screened 'space ship' doing various things. Some people like it...

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This was launched by Acornsoft in a blaze on non-publicity, despite its quiet appearance on the scene the game itself is very good.

The concept is based on the old ladders and platforms type of game, with ten fairly difficult to play screens. The big difference comes when you invoke the built-in editor and can actually design your own screens and modify existing screens.

This is where the game comes into its own right, extending the life of the game to reasonable levels, where as most games get boring after a while.

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About a year ago I saw a pre-release copy of a game called Sinistar for the BBC by Atarisoft. It was a perfect implementation of the arcade game.

Superior Software have recently launched the game retitled under the name Death Star, with starbombs and a death star instead of sinibombs and a sinistar. Otherwise the game is perfect. If you haven't seen the game before, it has been described as a thinking man's asteroids, though this hardly does it justice.

You just have to see this game.