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The Yak is back! And he's still taking a relaxed philosophical stance on storylines - Photon Storm doesn't have one. It's a shoot-'em-up plain and simple: You against Them in a wrap-around eight-way scrolling universe.

At your disposal is a ship manoeuvred by a combination of mouse and keyboard - blasting and movement are independently controlled, so you can fire as you flee.

What you fire at is as wide a range of mean, low-down aliens as you could possibly (not) wish for. Both sides are trying to grab plutonium pods - You to provide shields for inter-level hyperspace, Them to activate their battleship. Wipe out everything in sight and you can progress to the next level.

Plutonium pods are collected simply by flying over them. You can carry more than one at once for extra points - either way, make sure you get them safely back to the Stargate and kill any alien you see carrying one.

This triangular Stargate is your passport to the next level, and many more things besides. Enter it before you bump off the aliens and it warps you straight to a plutonium pod - if there aren't any left, it throws you next to a Starflake.

An alien's easy to spot - it's everything that isn't you or a plutonium pod. Terminate the scum in single-fire mode for double the points, but if they start using bullying tactics and home-in on you, reach for the smart bombs.

Photon Storm is a shoot-'em-up of the old school: minimal graphics and sound, but quality effects and loads of aliens. The accent falls purely and simply on gameplay, with fast action chases, a touch of limited progressive weaponry and your finger constantly on the fire button.

The combination of mouse and keyboard works well enough and provides great ship manoeuvrability - though it takes time to master the controls. At first you just fly around aimlessly, keeping half an eye on the scanner and looking out for plutonium.

It's only when you learn to use the Stargate and manage to combine thrust, boost and firing that you appreciate the game's depth - it's also the only way you can progress beyond the first few levels.

Photon Storm doesn't make full use of the Amiga's graphics and sound capabilities, but it's irrelevant as the action is so fast-paced that there's barely time to notice it. In compensation, there are plenty of neat touches - an unusual pause mode, a three-way or single fire option, the ability to control movement and shooting independently and a neat high-score table.

In fact, there's just about everything you'd expect from a Jeff Minter offering, right down to the yak and reference to Pink Floyd. It's a game of psychedelic colour schemes, speed and simplicity which falls somewhere between Williams' Defender and Palace's Cosmic Pirate.

No pretensions, no frills - just a good, if slightly expensive, old-fashioned blast that will appeal to most shoot-'em-up fans.

Identical in all respects bar sound, which comprises some unimpressive bleeps and blips - the colourful graphics and relentless action are required.

Sad news for llama lovers: Jeff has no plans to convert Photon Storm to the PC.