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This is the original Atari Defender, is a zap-zap game in which you are armed with three fighter ships and three smart bombs. Your task is to prevent the alien landers from taking your humanoids. But it's not all that simple, because the landers do not come alone - they have an assortment of fiendish alien buddies such as Pods, Bombers and Baiters. The most lethal of these are the Pods: once one has been destroyed it releases Swarmers which ruthlessly track you through space with the single-minded intention of destroying you.

The Baiters only appear after a certain time. These saucer-type craft follow directly behind you moving at a blinding speed and constantly firing: you'll need some good manoeuvring to destroy those ships. But you should always take care in dashing through space in case you come across a Bomber laying its mines across your path - they are still active once it has been destroyed.

Defender is a fast-moving and enjoyable one or two-player game. Well-defined graphics and good-quality sound make full use of the Vic's limited memory, and it's on cartridge too.

The main hitch with Defender is that it sometimes puts you on to the next screen arbitrarily; but who really minds extra points and more lives?