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This latest import from across the pond takes space games into a new dimension.

You are a hero of outer space and it is your mission to combat the hordes of deadly drone ships which the mothership sends hurtling down the Zarway.

The Zarway is an idea pinched from the famous Star Wars picture, when Luke Skywalker has to pilot his ship through a corridor in space and shoot down the enemy ships that are coming in the opposite direction.

With joystick in hand you follow his example. Killing 12 of the enemy drones on the trot takes you onto the next level of play, where strange things are happening aboard the mothership.

After a ten-minute wait while the program loads, the initial screen offers you the choice of a one or two player game, and a skill level.

You are then told the current state of play, before the game proper.

The Zarway is depicted in glorious technicolour on either side of the screen, and at the top left lies the mothership. You feel distinctly vulnerable as wave after wave of enemy ships are sent towards you.

These are much more manoeuvrable than you and many lives are lost before you get the knack of lining them up in the sights and destroying them as soon as they appear.

Get twelve in a row, and you get taken onto the next screen, which is a very different affair. Here you control a little man, who has to leap about the screen catching elevators and vaporising aliens, which appear from all directions and chase assiduously after you.

Reach the top of the screen and you are on to level three. By this time I had a severe case of 'joystick wrist' and the delights or otherwise of level three will have to remain untold.

The first screen becomes easy after a few plays, whichever skill level you've chosen. The second screen is slower, but harder to master. The final screen is fast, very fast; there's a lot going on and I found it virtually impossible.

Mothership is a fast and furious game, that takes some getting used to. Splendid use of graphics and sound, and a responsive joystick all add up to a superb piece of arcade action.