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Never a month goes by without someone offering you the chance to conquer the Universe. This time the offer comes from Virgin...

People use the word strategy without thinking what it means, especially if they're people from a software house desperate for an engaging word or two to describe their latest product. The way they talk about it, strategy usually means you have to work out that the laser-wielding gobbets of slime are the bad guys. Well Supremacy, one of last year's Amiga triumphs, is a strategy game and it's just been converted to run on the Amiga's humble eight-bit ancestor.

Unlike the recently released Star Control, which had to have most of the meat taken out of it before Accolade could make it fit, Supremacy is a science fiction domination game, played solely against the computer, which has successfully made the conversion with the least loss of the original's finesse.

The Supremacy universe consists of four planetary systems, beginning with an eight-world expanse and moving into more complex and densely-populated areas as the game progresses. In each of these four systems exists an opponent. These too are arranged in order of ferocity and cunning. For instance, Wotok, your first adversary, is not a brilliant strategist. He attacks when and where he can, without much planning, whereas Krart, your third opponent, deliberately goes for those worlds which are of most use to you, because if he captures them, they'll be of most use to him.

At the beginning of a game you and your opponent occupy one world each at opposite ends of the planetary system. You must earn revenue from your population and build farming, mining and solar energy facilities in order to secure your people's survival. Before long you have the opportunity to build an atmosphere processor. This can be sent on a grand tour of unexploited worlds which it then formats into places fit for colonisation. Gradually, you build up a better picture of nearby planets and can start to build and send out space ships to establish colonies not unlike the one with which you started.

However, you and your opponent are at loggerheads and there's no room for negotiations. The moment you reach into space, the other guy will tell you that all the planets are his. Naturally, you see things differently.

You can train armies in numbers of platoons recruited from a world's populace and equip them with arms of increasing destructive power. These platoons can be sent on battleships to attack the enemy or garrison worlds you've already colonised. In combat, you can instruct them to fight with varying degrees of aggression.

Most procedures in a game of Supremacy are automatic. You can initiate them or stop them but, other than that, no intervention is required on your part. All of the game's functions are icon-driven and can be accessed from one of around ten major screens. Apart from a master control screen, there are also shortcuts available between certain screens.

There's even more to Supremacy than all of this. Random events create the illusion of a real environment. Scientists make breakthroughs that double food production, interplanetary magnetic storms affect equipment. And, once you have a few worlds under your control, time and resource management become crucial. But it's all elegantly easy to use.

The game is loaded in completely in one go. After that, youo can keep your save game disk or tape ready (and use it regularly). Your difficult task emerges from a wealth of attractive graphics accompanied by some of the most atmospheric sounds you'll ever hear your SID chip sing.

There would have been enough challenge and entertainment if this had just been a space exploration game. But the grief provided by those four aliens gives it an edge Supremacy is guaranteed to test you to the limit.

1. Single player only.

1. Superb futuristic graphics and ominous sound effects.
2. Easy icon-driven game commands for rapid play.
3. Each war escalates at an astounding rate.
4. Difficult opponents to defeat, each possessing its own increasingly cunning strategy.
5. Excellent manual, complete with 'quick-start' guide.
6. Random events contribute to the game's realism.
7. Single load and up to four save games.
8. Probably the most advanced and exciting C64 strategy game in the world.