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Is the day of the horizontal shoot-'em-up over? Never! Slayer is the latest one to hit the Atari ST, from the same guys who did Zynaps. You must complete six levels meeting an end-of-level guardian in each. Along the way you pick up extra weapons and a shield to protect you from aliens and other obstacles.

You're confronted by a range of obstacles, but by far the most annoying are the green ping-pong balls which bounce around the screen. They can't be destroyed, so the only way forward is to dodge them. Since the display is constantly scrolling, you can't stop and wait for a gap but must use your skill to guide the ship.

Holding down on the joystick causes the ship to flatten out so you can pass certain obstacles - essential in the later levels where the game becomes insanely complicated.

Graphically, Slayer doesn't have a lot to rave about. Sprites are nothing mammoth and besides the ping-pong balls, animation is basic. Guardians, whilst extremely well-drawn haven't been animated. At best they flip a tongue in and out but there's nothing here to rival other classic shoot-'em-ups. Sound consists of a good sampled intro and standard firing noises during gameplay. There are also a handful of other spot effects.

You've seen one shoot-'em-up you've seen the lot - that's the impression you get with Slayer. In a market-place crammed with shoot-'em-ups, it takes a lot to make a decent game. Unlike Blood Money or Forgotten Worls, the graphics or gameplay won't set it aside from the rest. But by far its worst point is the difficulty level. Making a game so hard that no-one can get past level two does little to make it addictive.