Alan Webster reviews four extremely good games from Acornsoft. Thanks are due to Thomas and John Webb for their assistance with the Arcadians review.

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For me, this is the best of the four Acornsoft programs reviewed in that it has been particularly well thought out. When loaded, the program displays instructions, high scores, points awarded, gives demonstrations of the game and repeats the process until you choose the type of game that you require (very much like a dedicated arcade game).

The game involves shooting down hordes of alilens (!) that swoop down in groups and bomb your missile blaster. The game gets very difficult after a few sheets of aliens have been killed. It is a truly addictive game, and represents good value for money.

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Representing a game of snooker on a micro such as the Beeb is definitely not easy, especially with eight coloured balls and a green table. Acornsoft have managed to reproduce the colours extremely well, although the green ball is cyan and the pink and brown can get mixed up if you're not careful.

It plays to almost perfect rules and is very easy to control. It rates well above any other snooker or billiards program I've seen and will keep you happy for a long time. One point I must stress is that this is a game that requires a colour display.

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This is a good variation of the popular arcade game which runs in mode 1 and presents the player with various types of creatures such as an octopus (?), a crab, and other less recognisables.

The program runs smoothly and has three skill levels, the third of which has bombs which follow your base. The game is very imaginative and as with all Acornsoft games it is fun to play. (Does anybody know what comes after the rows of crocodiles?).

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This is Acornsoft's version of Scramble and as with most of their games it is a faithful copy of the original.

You pilot a spacecraft which travels through rocky caverns avoiding enemy rockets, fizzers, etc. At the same time you must fire at fuel dumps to replenish your ever-dwindling supply.

The game requires great dexterity which means that it will take a long time before you fully master it.

Some points again this game are that the 'bomb' key is next to the Escape key and this causes much frustration when the game suddenly ends; the landscape never changes from game to game; the missiles always attack in the same place and the screen shudders when a rocket takes off.

Overall, however, it must be said that Rocket Raid is an extremely good game, with some of the best graphics that you are likely to find.