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"Beat to quarters! Run out the guns and clear for action!"

These are the commands issued by many a sea captain in the 18th century as his ship came under attack from an enemy vessel. Now SSI gives you the opportunity to take command of some of the most famous of these ships and recreate historical sea battles of old.

Designed for two-player or solo mode, your vessels must be rigged, manned and armed just like the real thing. And they handle in the wind exactly the same as you would expect from one of the great wooden warships of years ago.

Due to its size and complexity Broadsides is disc only. Loading is straightforward. Remove all cartridges from older Atari micros, or hold down the Option key on newer models. Then switch on, remembering to place your disc in drive one.

After the loading sequence - which is accompnied by a superb high-resolution picture of a warship - the options screen is displayed.

You can choose whether you want to use a joystick or the keyboard, the skill level of the gameplay or whether you want to play an arcade or tactical simulation.

The first offers a faster and more exciting game with fewer decisions to make. Those preferring a more thoughtful version should opt for tactical. This allows you much more control over the proceedings - but it can get complicated.

There is also the choice of a naval battle or a reconstruction of a boarding foray. I found this a very useful option when I found myself tiring of watching ships float around the screen.

A number of famous ships have been faithfully recreated and saved on to your data disc, but if you tire of them you can always create your own. I recommend you read the player's manual fully before attempting to do so - it can get little involved.

All naval combat is displayed on a colour, high-resolution graphics screen which depicts speeded up sequences of the action.

A clever feature of this display is that when your ships get closer together, the on-screen size increases proportionately, giving a very realistic feel to the proceedings.

When you opt to board another vessel, another animated graphics sequence is used. In this, you can make your men charge your enemies or you can get your sharp shooters to cut them down with a hail of gunfire.

Sound is put to good use throughout the game and a sea shanty is played at the end of a session.

Whenever an encounter is won the national anthem of the country concerned is played - slightly out of tune.

Luckily SSI has done its usual best within the documentation and included a number of easy look up tables. At a quick glance you can get a rough idea as to which commands and keys do what. Very useful.

The player's manual is a mine of information and is produced with the usual classy style we have all grown to expect from the master of strategy games on the Atari micros.

Overall, Broadsides is one of the best simulations from SSI and is a pleasure to play.