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The story behind this, if I remember it all correctly, is a bit of an odd one. Encounter is an ancient Atari XL/C64 game (a 'classic', if you will) from author Paul Woakes, who of course later went on to fame and fortune etc with Mercenary, Damocles et al. Amiga Encounter, on the other hand, is an all-new 16-bit version of the same thing - a real early arcade-style throwback, with the incredibly simple gameplay spiced up by, well, by extra colour, and some swisher sound and, um, that's about it really.

Novagen have gone for a quiet sort of release with it too, apparently preferring the idea of old fans just lucking upon it in the shops rather than reading about it in magazines and going out specifically to buy a copy.

So how's their plan worked out? Well, the blast-from-the-past gameplay will be a breath of fresh air to a certain sort of pure-reactions, adrenalin-loving arcade gamesplayers, that's for sure. The idea (viewed from a first-person perspective) is that you are driving (or something) multi-directionally across the surface of a fast scrolling 3D world, ducking behind these sort of pillar affairs as they appear on the landscape, firing at the enemies (floating squares of light, flying saucers and other futuristic shapes), then popping into a nearby stargate for a bit of quick asteroid dodging, before emerging again for the next, trickier level. Yes, it really is a sort of abstract Battlezone if ever there was one - not really perhaps quite what we expect for twenty odd quid these days (it plays no faster and really looks like different to the C64 version, for instance) but absorbing fun nonetheless.

It wears its simplicity on its sleeve like a badge, and you have to admit, the fast-moving cat-and-mouse chase aspect is very absorbing indeed - it's a bit like playing one of those painball games, all ducking and diving behind things, firing blindly, constantly watching your back and so on. Novagen claim 'the first person perspective view has you ducking away from the screen in reaction', and, d'you know, they're actually right. An advert for the virtues of simplicity and pure, un-faffed-about-with gameplay if ever there was one.

Simple but effective abstract 3D shoot-'em-up - possibly a tad overpriced, but bound to prove absorbing fun for adrenalin freaks.