In the early days Atari produced several great games, and now it has re-released five of them on a compilation tape - Typo Attack, Missile Command, Centipede, Realsports Tennis and Star Raiders.

In Typo Attack, you defend eight missile bases from attack by aliens, each marked with its own keyboard character. Every time you press the relevant key an energy bolt from the base will destroy the marauding alien hell-bent on your destruction.

Basically, the game is a simple keyboard tutor that has a graphical representation of each key so as to relieve the toil of finding your way around a qwerty keyboard.

Each successive wave gets faster and you need to be quick off the mark to hit the correct key before the alien gets you.

Admittedly this isn't the best game ever written for a home micro, but it is great fun for the kids and very useful if you just want to brush up on the old keyboard bashing!

Missile Command puts you in charge of a missile silo as you defend seven cities against attack from incoming ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) and MIRVs (Multiple-Warhead ICBMs) which drop killer satelliets and enemy boulders.

The attacks come in waves and last from 30 to 45 seconds each. As the enemy projectiles descend, just move your targetting sight and press the fire button. This will launch one of your ABMs - Anti-ballistic Missiles - that will hopefully destroy the enemy weapons homing in on your cities.

When a wave is over, your remaining cities and missiles are used to calculate a bonus, and this is displayed with your current score.

When you are about to run out of missiles, your target sight will change shape. At this point, make your missiles count - don't waste them or you could end up with no cities at all.

The graphics are very simple as are the sound effects, but overall the game is a classic and great fun to play.

In Centipede, you live in an enchanted mushroom patch also inhabited by bothersome bugs which possess magical powers. Your job as the bug blaster is to destroy all the creepy crawlies before they get you.

The largest of the nasties in the garden is the centipede - hence the name - that marches down the screen in a military manner. If it bumps into a mushroom it changes direction and travels at an even greater speed. To destroy it you must blast each of its segments.

Other nasties to watch out for are the jumping spiders, the frenzied flea that leaves a trail of mushrooms after it and the scurrying scorpion which is deadly if it touches you.

This is another conversion of an Atari arcade game that had a cult following years ago. I remember putting pounds into one of these machines in my younger days.

The first time I played the home micro version I had just bought it on rom cartridge and it was as much pleasure to play then as it is now and at about a thirtieth of the price.

Centipede is a state of the art game and very addictive - worth the compilation price on its own!

Your view of Realsports Tennis is from above, at a shallow angle, giving an illusion of depth to the game. Added to this, the ball's shadow makes everything seem very realistic.

I still class this as the best tennis simulation I have seen on an 8-bit machine. The graphics, animation and sound effects are well put together. As with Centipede, it's well worth the price of the package on its own.

The final game on the tape is Star Raiders, a legend among Atari owners worldwide.

You are at war with the evil Zylon empire, which is attempting to take over your Galaxy and, as a Starfleet pilot, you must do battle with it as you zoom around in your twin ion-engined star fighter.

As the game progresses, you must stop your star bases being surrounded and eventually destroyed. When the warning buzzer sounds, you bring the galactic chart on to your screen - press G - and hyperwarp to the relative sector and destroy the enemy vessels.

If you sustain a lot of damage, hyperwarp to a star base that isn't under attack and dock with it. A repair drone will leave the station, repair all damage, and refuel your fighter.

If you ever wanted to be Buck Rogers or Luke Skywalker then this is your chance. Another game well worth the price of the compilation on its own.

Many years ago these games would have cost you more than £100. Now you can get them for just £4.95. What a bargain!