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Micro Power are well known for their superb high speed, full-of-action arcade type games for the Acorn machines. After this tape, I feel they will continue to be known for precisely the same features, but not sadly for the originality or educational value of this tape. It could easily have been produced by any other, less competent company, for it bears none of the hallmarks of Micro Power's usual games offerings.

It isn't so much that the tape is badly programmed, on the contrary it is as fully error-trapped as it is possible to be, and no spurious input is allowed. Indeed, should an answer be indicated before the end of a (short) delay loop, a message is printed in the centre of the scene that the child should stop merely hitting the keys and should try again! No, my reservations are twofold - it just isn't an original and stimulating use of the micro in the classroom, and secondly the educational value is blunted by the correct answer being immediately given in the event of a mistake. In my experience, that is not how children learn.

A well-detailed map of the mainland of Britain is drawn in a few seconds, and then a question is posed of the multiple choice kind. These questions concern towns, rivers or other landmarks such as mountains, moors, etc.

Actually I put the program into the school micro, a BBC, and was impressed with the very rapid drawing of the outline map on the screen. On the Electron this is of course a litle slower. The number of questions possible is quite large, and covers a wide range of possible options. Upon a correct answer, one of a series of totally ridiculous comments is made, randing from "You won't get the next one so easily" (I wonder why not?) to "I hope this wasn't a lucky guess"! I found these totally out of place in a program of this kind.

Phil Taylor