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Paradroid 90 owes its existence to those historic old computers unfortunate enough to possess only eight of those mysterious bits: it's a ruthless shoot-'em-up in the old tradition and it's not afraid to show it. But some could view this as its biggest failing. Nowadays, we're accustomed to getting a larger helping of gameplay than the old school used to serve up. Paradroid 90 pooh-poohs the current wave of New-Age adventure-strategy racing-shoot-outs and hangs its hat firmly on the get-in-there-n-beat-the-crap-outta-them peg.

The short and sweet scenario outlines a familiar plot. A deep-space freighter of the friendly persuasion has been overrun by its own service-droids. They've all suffered a massive case of misplaced loyalty and have probably exterminated the human crew. Enemy droid-washing is suspected and (surprise, surprise) it's up to you to sort the whole mess out.

But you can't simply board the ship and try reasoning with these schizoid androids - you'd become a statistic the moment you hit the deck. Instead, you must enlist the services of a self-propelled droid-hunting unit called an ID (Influence Droid). Armed with its low-powered plasma ray and hovering about on its anti-grav motors, it can scurry about the ship dealing death-blows to the cleaners, wine-waiters and other low-grade robot classes.

However, attacking a top-flight battle-droid with this stuff is a bit like challenging the Terminator to an elastic band fight. A more subtle method of control is required, and that's where the Influence part of the game comes in.

The ID is equipped with a short-range transfer beam which enables it to scrobble the brain-circuits of any droid it touches. It can then try to assume control of the enemy robot's motor and weapon systems. If successful, the ID climbs onto this new host's shoulders and can direct the poor thing where it pleases. The infiltrated droid survives for a short while before it dies of terminal angst but until then you can use it to go blasting, safe inside its armour.

The droid hijacking element of the game forms a small sub-game, basically a timed logic game: your ID and the enemy droid have to battle for control by plugging a finite number of charges into a connecting circuit within a given time limit. This calls for some advanced thinking, and quick, precise reactions. It's also possible to turn off this part of the game entirely and simply hijack any droid you touch with the transfer beam.

Paradroid is a colourful but graphically unspectacular piece of work. Simple - and rather small - sprites are used throughout on a Uridium-type background, making the whole thing look a bit dated. Movement around the ship is fast and smooth, enabling you to control things easily. Playability is impeccable - it's just that the play itself is so uninteresting after you've seen it once. However, the accompanying sound effects are interesting (if a little sparse) and fit the bill nicely, but the intro music would sound more at home on a digital watch, circa 1980!

Paradroid 90 might have looked fantastic on a 2-bit machine five years ago, but it doesn't compete with modern-day classics like Xenon 2 or Speedball. The gameplay - though fast, furious and at times mentally taxing - just isn't varied enough. If you hanker after the ol' blitzin' days of yesteryear, then you'll enjoy Paradroid immensely. But, if you bought your ST as an advancement on 8-bitters, then you'll wonder why this repetitive and unambitious game hasn't advanced at all.