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Micro Power has acquired quite a reputation for producing high-quality versions of existing arcade games for the BBC Micro. More recently it has started to release new software on disc as well as cassette, and Blockbuster is available in both versions.

The game follows the format of Q*Bert, in which you jump a character around a structure of hexadonal columns, changing the colours of their tops as you go. In this version, your character is a large green rabbit, and trying to prevent him completing his task is an equally big blue fox. You can temporarily forestall his pursuit by luring him off the back of the blocks while elevating yourself to safety on one of the two multicoloured disks provided for the purpose.

Other characters occasionally crop up to cause you annoyance and most are fatal to the touch. A fat white gull, described in the cassette inlay as an albatross, floats to and fro overhead and drops the odd blob of 'noxious guano' - nice! The sound effects are fairly ordinary, but the rabbit produces a satisfying boing each time he hops.

My main grouse is the response to the control keys. This is so intermittent on the first level that it can take three or four depressions of the relevant key before any action occurs. This is frustrating at the best of times, but much more so when the fox is hot on your heels. I became so annoyed playing the game that I delved into the code to see if it was written in Basic. It doesn't appear to be, but it's hard to see why there should be this trouble if the game is totally in machine code. There aren't enough moving sprites to cause any problem.

As far as I'm concerned, I've played better versions of this game from listings published free in magazines, and wouldn't consider buying Blockbuster when there are so many more responsive programs available.