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With the many hundreds of games now available for the Spectrum almost every arcade game that ever saw the light of day has been converted for use on the Sinclair machine.

One exception to this though - is Sega's graphically superb game - Zaxxon.

It is probably because of its exemplary 3D-style graphics that the software houses have, so far, shied away from trying to recreate the beautiful floating blue fortress.

Now a new software house, Starzone, has been brave enough to make an attempt and they ought to be congratulated for taking on such an adventurous project.

That is where the congratulations have to end as the final product is far from satisfactory.

The ship is a crude graphics block and moves in jerks - none of the smooth-scrolling graphics of the arcade game or other conversions for other home systems.

The missiles are dreadfully slow, taking several seconds to move across screen and connect with the target.

The lack of speed also makes it too difficult to fly over obstacles - which is intentionally difficult in the real game - but annoyingly so in this version.

The ground-to-air missiles - which were such an impressive feature of the arcade game are also crude - like pipes coming out of the ground.

Sound effects are also poor - an odd clicking sound as the missiles move at a snail's pace across the screen.

Anyone who has ever seen arcade Zaxxon knows what a superb game it is - unfortunately this home version does not reproduce the feel of the game, or come close to its excellent graphics.

Available at £5.50 from Starzone or Wantage.