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Space Invaders are a run old bunch and no mistake. One minute they're trying to invade the earth and the next, they're, um, trying to invade the earth all over again. Now they're back with a whole mothership full of nasty new ideas, thanks to Domark's Kremlin programmers. But we're ready...

Space Invaders hit Planet Earth in 1978 and I remember it well. Never mind, eh? Cos now, thirteen years on, I can play Super Space Invaders as much as I want.

Domark decided that Space Invaders was ace, but they could make it ever better. So they have. How? Well, they've retained the basic idea but added lots of extra features to bring it into the nineties and worthy of the prefix 'super'. This involves adding better backgrounds, loads more aliens, extremely nasty end-of-level baddies, wazzy power-ups and cow mutilation sequences. Spiffy.

At the start, it looks a bit like your everyday Invaders-style shoot-'em-up. About 450 face-like aliens move in formation across the screen and shower you with pellets. All you've got to do is move sideways, dodge the pellets, shoot the aliens and try to get the ships which float across the screen now and then. You get bonus points and, if you're lucky, a temporary, protective shield.

The basic idea is to get rid of all the aliens before they start moving downwards. Y'see, as they get closer to the ground, they get bigger. When they hit rock bottom they can just slide sneakily over to you and - kerbamm! Your ship is no more.

After the first couple of levels the aliens start to get a bit more exciting. Unfortunately, as you progress, some of the backgrounds start to get slightly confused and it becomes more difficult to work out if that's an alien or a bit of a planet. But the more aliens you blast, the clearer the screen becomes - so just shoot, shoot, shoot.

Programmers, The Kremlin, have got some pretty weird ideas as to what aliens actually look like. I can't say that I've actually seen any aliens. I live a very sheltered life. But I've seen a few films and I've never seen an alien that looks like a house; a butterfly; a fat skier; or a Playmobil man.

These strange alien peeps get more and more difficult the further you get into the game but they're not half as tough as the end-of-level baddies. Phew! These really are mean metal muthas and they take ages to kill. There are ships with arms that dangle dangerously near your ship and fire at you continuously, ones that launch an endless stream of killer missiles straight at your little ship and a very strange one that looks like a cross between a buddah and a phoenix and has loads of buddah and a phoenix and has loads of bubbles going round and round.

The best way to get rid of these is to stay out of their line of fine and keep the fire button held down. Eventually, just when you start thinking that they're never going to go away, they'll suddenly burst at the seams in a brown and orange explosion. Lovely colour scheme.

It all sounds horribly difficult but you do have some help. If you knock out a few choice ships, you'll be rewarded with a tasty power-up. The best of these is the destroy beam which releases four lasers. These don't last very long but in their short life-span they do a tremendous amount of damage by zipping around the screen at a furious pace and completely wiping out anything they come into contact with. Another goody is the fire flower which explodes very prettily and, more importantly, kills virtually everything on screen. These extra weapons are dead useful and, thus, a very good thing.

The cattle mutilation sequence does not consist of slaughtering loads of prime dairy cattle. That's the aliens' job, matey. You have to save the cattle from the dastardly space peril. Otherwise, streams of spaceships swoop down and pick up herds of innocent frightened Fresians.

You should blast the aliens before they reach the ground but it's so tempting to let them pick up a cow. A cow dangling from a spaceship is not a sight you see everyday. The little cows chew away and the ships look exactly like the ones in the Sunday Sport.

I liked a lot of things about Super Space Invaders and there's not much about that I didn't like. But what if you don't want the guilt of buying a game when there are presents to buy for everyone else? How about dropping the words, "I want Super Space Invaders into everything you say from now 'til Christmas. My advice is get a copy of Super Space Invaders.

1. It's big enough to keep you occupied for ages.
2. You're pulled in gently. At first, the aliens are slow, but they speed up. In the end it's pretty difficult even for experienced alien bashers.
3. Most of the time the animation is excellent.
4. The aliens have been given a bit of character.
5. Cow mutilation screens are an inspired addition.
6. You always want to see more screens.
7. Great end-of-level baddies.
8. Amazingly addictive, especially considering the gameplay is thirteen years old.

1. A bit confusing sometimes.