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Panther, the new budget title from Mastertronic, is a good old-fashioned shoot-'em-up. You are inside a flying saucer and should get hours of entertainment as you disintegrate aliens in a hail of laser fire.

You are the lone remaining pilot - sounds like Battlestar Galactica - in the Federal force and your city, Xenon, is under attack.

Most of the population have left and the remaining few must be picked up and taken to the spaceport on the other side of the city.

Reminiscent of Blue Max: 2001, the playfield scrolls right to left diagonally across the screen. This looks good, but it unfortunately prevents half the screen from being used - your movement is restricted to a narrow channel running from corner to corner.

To me this is a sign of lazy programming, as with a little bit of work the entire screen could have been used.

The view of your flying saucer is from above and to the right - hence the scrolling techniques used. Using the joystick, you can move up, down, left and right, within strict limits.

The aim of the game is to survive - which isn't easy - and to rescue stranded people who are taking refuge in triangular-shaped bunkers scattered around.

To make life difficult alien fighters constantly buzz the area and take great delight in zapping you - but don't they always?

The terrain is nicely varied and starts with desert - beware of the killer cacti. Don't land on any green bits to pick up survivors because your craft will explode - a handy piece of information that the cassette inlay omits.

Another problem with this level is that some of the aliens are the same colour as the background, making them very difficult to see.

Next you'll come to the deserted city which is laid out in a monotonously symmetrical fashion. After this you arrive at the sea, complete with waves, and very realistic they are too.

Look out for oil platforms as you cross the screen as there could be survivors on them.

After the sea you reach another city and the spaceport. Flying is fun in the city as you try to go in under radar and round the skyscrapers.

Below the main playing area is your saucer's control panel. This displays your score, the number of people you have rescued, how many ships you have left and a radar panel.

The latter shows the position of the bad guys relative to you and is very useful because they can go off the screen and shoot you from behind, whereas you can only shoot them if they are directly in front of you and at the same altitude.

A novel approach I liked was that they call your death and rising from the ashes the Phoenix manoeuvre - you have five of these before the game is over.

A failing is that there is no real height indicator - you have to guess the height by your shadow and compare it with the alien ships. At least in Blue Max the enemy changes colour when you're at the same altitude.

Another well-implemented feature is the superb background music, although it can get on your nerves after an hour or so. Most of Mastertronic's recent games have been released with some very classy music, let's hope they keep it up.

I was disappointed with some of the graphics. Your ship resembles a strawberry that you have just trodden on - flat and horrible.

The alien craft are just as boring, but a saving grace is that the little people are well animated as they run out of the bunker to your ship.

Despite these minor faults I enjoyed playing Panther. Excellent scrolling and sound effects make it pleasing to look at and hear. For £1.99 you must buy this game for your collection, it's well worth it.